[ad_1]
“And the way we won that Test match as well was quite important. From where we came, we were 1-nil down, we won in Melbourne and then we drew the Test match in Sydney and then won in Brisbane. So you can’t really rank the Test matches, but this has to be right up there because we had not won here. That shows how important a venue this is for us to come here and perform. I give a lot of credit to our team to put up a performance like that and win the game.”
Rohit spoke about the importance of judging the conditions and then sticking to their game plan. “We knew it was not gonna be a high-scoring game,” Rohit said. “So all we wanted to do was stay disciplined in how we bowl, not get ahead of ourselves and try and do too many things. Once we got them all out for 55, we spoke to the batters that we needed small contributions in this game.
“It was not gonna be an easy pitch to bat on. So how much ever you can try and score, apply yourself, get hit on your body, it’s fine, but just go and put yourself ahead. If you have to take a blow, be ready for it. That’s something that we spoke of. To be honest, the top four or five batters showed a lot of grit. We knew that the first-innings lead here was going to be crucial.
Rohit: Any target on that pitch ‘challenging’
“When we came up here today, if we didn’t show up properly there was a good chance that they might get enough runs on the board. Luckily, we started off really well getting that first wicket in the first over. Then we had some plans to get Aiden Markram out, but he played a superb innings to get that hundred.
“But again, Bumrah, we know his class, we know his quality, got six wickets for us in this innings, and put us ahead in the game a little bit.”
Rohit gave his vote of trust to the young batters who might’ve found it tough on their first trip to South Africa. “Especially in this country, we know batting is very difficult,” Rohit said. “Especially when you play on pitches like that, obviously it’s tough. You’ve gotta show a lot of faith. You’ve gotta show a lot of trust. And especially in the guys who have come here for the first time, uh, you know, Shubman Gill, Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer.
“It’s important to give them that confidence and allow them to play their game as well. And that is something we discussed before the start of the Test series, that we want to allow them to play the way they want to play. And while doing that, it may not come off because they all are naturally quite aggressive in how they want to play.
“They can learn a lot from these two games as to what is required when the pitches are like that. When it is slightly challenging. It is swinging. There is a lot of lateral movement, and especially with the guys who are bowling from a little bit of height as well. They must have learned a lot from the series, and they can take a fair bit of confidence fas well. Although they didn’t get big runs, I think that’s okay.”
[ad_2]
#INDIA #2nd #TEST #Rohit #Sharma #Cape #Town #win #Gabba