The comprehensive victory, featuring a five-wicket haul by star all-rounder and first-innings centurion Ravindra Jadeja, as well as impressive performances from captain Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, double centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal, and debutant Sarfaraz Khan, led to England succumbing to the hosts within four days.This triumph propelled the hosts to a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Rohit said, “When you play Test cricket, you do not play it in two or three days. You have to stay in the game for five days. They played good shots (in the second innings) and put us under pressure but we have got class in our squad when it comes to bowling. So obviously the message was to stay calm (after day two). Important that time to stay calm, otherwise you drift. We stuck to our plans on day three, and when those things happen, it is a delight.”
On Jadeja promoted to number five in the first innings and Sarfaraz Khan notching up two half-centuries in his debut Test, the India skipper said, “For this game, we thought he (Jadeja) has so much experience in this format, and scored lot of runs of late. We also wanted left-right batting as well. Sarfaraz being Sarfaraz, we know his quality, we wanted him to have some time before he comes out to bat. We saw what he can do with the bat. By no means is it some long plan with the batting order, we go with what is right for us for that Test match. Including calculating what the opponents’ bowling attack is.”
On what he felt was the turning point of the match, Rohit said, “Lots of turning points. Once we won the toss, that was a good toss to win. We know runs on board is important in India. The lead was also crucial for us. The way we came out to bowl after the English batters’ onslaught, important to stay calm… the bowlers showed a lot of character. Not to forget we did not have our most experienced bowler too (Ravichandran Ashwin who missed the day three due to personal reasons). I was proud to watch the bowlers. Then in our second innings, we knew half the job was done. We wanted to extend the lead, and the two youngsters helped extend. And then finally Jadeja.”
Lavishing praise on young opener Jaiswal, who is in the form of his life in the ongoing series and brought his second double ton in Tests in the second innings at Rajkot, Rohit said, “I have spoken a lot about him. I am sure people outside the changing room have also been talking about him. I want to be calm about him, not talk a lot about him. He has started his career on a high.”
Chasing 557, England was bundled out for just 122 runs in 39.4, losing the match by 434 runs. Ravindra Jadeja took 5/41, while Kuldeep Yadav took two wickets. Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah took a wicket each.
(With inputs from ANI)