India captain Rohit Sharma Monday rued the lack of adequate recognition for a Test series win at home and the critics’ tendency to go after the team with all their might in the event of a defeat. Rohit emphasised the importance of a Test series win regardless of the venue, opposition or conditions, his observation coming after the hosts flattened a trend-setting England team for a 17th consecutive series win at home.
“Home and away, you can differentiate between the two but if you win at home, not a lot is spoken about, it’s like ‘oh no India are supposed to win at home’,” Rohit said at the post-match press conference.
“If you don’t then I know what happens as well, but yeah, like you said clearly every series win, whichever team you play against, whenever you play, Test series win is a Test series, no matter the conditions or the country you play in,” he added.
India beat England by five wickets on the fourth day of the fourth Test here to claim an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match rubber.
Basking in the glory of yet another series win at home, Rohit though was not sure if this would make up for the heartbreaking defeat in the ODI World Cup final to Australia after a glorious run.
“It’s gruelling. Playing a five-match series is not easy. That’s what Test cricket is all about.
“You find your way, keep fighting, whatever contest you are in, with the bat or the ball, you have to do that consistently over a period of may be five to seven weeks.
“So it’s quite pleasing. But again, I don’t want to compare the World Cup and this series win because both are different formats. But I am quite pleased with this result,” he said.
‘No idea about Bumrah for fifth Test’
With the series in pocket, India may extend pace ace Jasprit Bumrah‘s break.
“I have no idea. We have not sat down and discussed,” the India skipper said of his lead pacer who was rested for the fourth Test in line with the team’s workload management.
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