Published: Jul 15, 2023, 08:24 AM (IST)
Edited: Jul 15, 2023, 08:24 AM (IST)
Indian captain Rohit Sharma explained the reason for his frustrated reaction towards debutant Ishan Kishan before declaring India’s innings at 421/5 on Day 3 of the first Test against West Indies in Dominica. Rohit revealed that he wanted Ishan Kishan to score his first runs in Test cricket quickly as he was about to declare the innings. Ishan took 20 balls to get off the mark which left Rohit Sharma frustrated.
“I was just letting them know we have an over or so before declaring. I wanted Ishan to get off the mark, wanted to tell him to get his personal mark and then we had to declare. I could see that he was always eager to bat, it could be frustrating for them,” Rohit said during the post-match presentation as India thrashed West Indies by an innings and 141 runs.
India dominated the West Indies from ball one and bowled them out for 150 in the first innings. The batters then made Windies bowlers toil hard, making them field for two long days, scoring 421/5 in 152 overs. The game saw several significant performances for the Rohit Sharma-led side, with Yashasvi Jaiswal hogging the limelight for scoring a brilliant 171 on debut. Rohit Sharma also ended his century drought and slammed a composed 103. Virat Kohli missed out on a hundred and was dismissed for 76.
R Ashwin was the star with the ball, bagging 12 wickets in the match. Rohit Sharma hailed his bowlers for a tremendous show, giving Ashwin a special mention.
“I would like to start by saying it was a great effort with the ball. Getting them out for 150 set the game for us. We knew batting would get tough, it wasn’t easy to score runs. We knew we wanted to bat only once and bat long. Get over 400 runs and then we came out and bowled really well,” he said.
“The results speak for themselves, they have been doing it for a while. There isn’t much to tell them, it is about giving them the freedom to express themselves. The experience these guys have on pitches like this is always a luxury. Both Ash and Jadeja were superb, especially Ashwin for coming out and bowling this way was class,” Rohit added.
