India captain Rohit Sharma talked about never having all his best players to choose from since he became the Indian Test captain in 2022.
Rohit Sharma asserted that the ongoing Test series against England was his toughest series as India’s Test skipper, mainly because he missed a few important players either for the entire series or partially. Virat Kohli has missed the first-ever Test series of his career to attend the birth of his child.
KL Rahul played in the first Test and missed the rest of the series due to injury, and Ravindra Jadeja missed one Test due to injury, while Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj were rested for one game each. And it is not to forget that Rishabh Pant has been unavailable due to injuries from his car accident since December 2022.
India went down in the first Test but bounced back superbly to take an unassailable 3-1 series lead with one Test to go.
On the eve of the Dharamsala Test, skipper Rohit Sharma spoke about his role as a batsman and his plight as the captain who has missed some of his key players.
“I don’t predict the future. When the series starts we know what are our strengths and what are opponent’s strengths. My role is of a batter, I have to score runs. Since the time I became captain, I didn’t get the entire team. It’s not an excuse. We want to keep the environment fine. When England were playing well and playing shots we needed to be patient and back ourselves,” said Rohit Sharma.
Rohit Sharma faced tricky dilemma about bowling combination in Dharamsala
Dharamsala is the most pace-friendly Test venue in India. Overcast conditions are present leading up to the game and rain is predicted during the match. Rohit mentioned that there is a good chance of India playing three seamers for the first time in this series. If India do pick three seamers – Bumrah, Siraj, and Akash Deep – then Kuldeep Yadav will face the axe.
When asked if India could play three pacers, Rohit Sharma said, “Certainly. Why shouldn’t [a third seamer] come in? If we feel the weather is going to be like this, there is a good chance. We’ve not yet completely decided on it, but there is a good chance – definitely.”
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