Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh) [India], March 10 (ANI): India skipper Rohit Sharma opened up on his retirement plans following India’s series win against England.
The series against England saw Rohit’s leadership credentials come to the fore after India lost the opening Test, as he had to shepherd a side shorn of some big names and bring the best out of a young and inexperienced squad.
Not burdened by leadership, he also shone with the bat aggregating over 400 runs in the series.
The young Indian brigade finally put the final nail in the coffin of England’s ‘Bazball’ school of cricket as veteran Ravichandran Ashwin’s historic five-wicket haul in his 100th Test helped India beat England by an innings and 64 runs to take the series 4-1.
Speaking on JioCinema after the series win, Rohit talked about his retirement, saying that he will retire when he feels he is not good enough to play the game. He also said that for the last two or three years, he has been playing his best cricket.
“I think if one day if I wake up and feel I am not good enough, I am not feeling good enough to play the sport, I will just talk it out and let them know about it. But honestly, I feel in the last two or three years my cricket has actually gone up and I am playing the best cricket,” he said,” Rohit Sharma said on Jio Cinema.
Rohit had a fine series with the bat, scoring 400 runs in nine innings at an average of 44.44, with two centuries and a fifty, with his best score being 131. The veteran batter has been one of the best Test batters in the world since the ICC World Test Championship’s inception in league format back in 2019.
He is the seventh-highest run-scorer in WTC history and India’s top-scorer, with 2,552 runs in 32 Tests at an average of 50.03 and a strike rate of 58.39. He also has nine centuries and seven fifties in 54 innings, with the best score of 212.
Rohit’s batting during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at home also won him a lot of acclaim. His selfless way of batting, putting up massive scores in powerplay and attacking some of the best bowlers in the world helped the team heavily in their campaign, which saw them end as runners-up to Australia. In 11 matches, Rohit made 597 runs at an average of 54.27 and a strike rate of 125.94, with a century and three fifties. His best score was 131, ending up as second-highest run-getter in the tournament behind Virat Kohli (765 runs).
Rohit also said that he wants to remove the culture of playing for milestones and statistics in the team and have them play with much more freedom. He said that if one plays well and focuses on the game with a clear mind, the numbers and milestones will come.
“I am not too much of a stat person who looks into numbers and all of that. Yes, scoring big runs, those numbers are important, but eventually, there is a culture of playing cricket in this team that I was focusing on and I am still focusing on. I wanted to bring a certain change. You know, players going out there and playing with a lot of freedom. That statistical side of cricket, I want to take completely out of this team,” said Rohit.
“People are not looking at numbers. People are not looking at their personal scores. Play the game. Numbers will take care of itself if you are playing well. If you are fearless, If your mind is clean and clear, other things will take care of itself. But do not look out. Go out there looking for ok, can I get a 50 here? can I get 100? Obviously, all those numbers are good. It will happen. But just take that completely out of your mind and just focus on the game,” he concluded.
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, the visitors were bundled out for 218 in their first innings, with Zak Crawley (79 in 108 balls, with 11 fours and a six) top-scored for England, Jonny Bairstow (29), and Joe Root (26) the only notable contributors with the willow.
Kuldeep Yadav (5/72) and Ravichandran Ashwin (4/51) topped the bowling charts for India.
In their first innings, India again out-batted England by a country mile, with the opening pair of skipper Rohit Sharma (103 in 162 balls, with 13 fours and three sixes) and Yashashwi Jaiswal (57 in 58 balls, with five fours and three sixes), contributing handsomely and putting the English attack to the sword.
Debutant Devdutt Padikkal (65 in 103 balls, with 10 fours and a six) and Sarfaraz Khan (56 in 60 balls, with eight fours and a six) also came up with crucial hands. After a mini-collapse, the ninth-wicket pair of Kuldeep Yadav (30 in 69 balls, with two fours) and Jasprit Bumrah (20 in 64 balls, with two fours) raised a 49-run stand to take India to 477, giving them a lead of 259 runs over the visitors.
Shoaib Bashir (5/173) was the pick of the bowlers for England while Tom Hartley and the veteran, James Anderson took two wickets apiece. Skipper Ben Stokes also got a wicket off his first ball of the series.
England were tasked to cut down on a deficit of 259 runs in their second innings. Though Joe Root (84 in 128 balls, with 12 fours) attempted to fight it out for England, he got very little support from the other end. Jonny Bairstow (39 in 31 balls, with three fours and three sixes) and Tom Hartley (20 in 24 balls, with four boundaries) contributed respectable scores, but nothing could help Root avert a disaster as England was bundled out for 195, handing England a defeat by an innings and 64 runs. England also lost the series 4-1.
Ashwin ended the match in the first session itself, demolishing the English top-order and ending with a five-wicket haul. Ashwin (5/77) was the pick of the bowlers for India. Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets each, while Ravindra Jadeja got one. (ANI)
