India registered their biggest victory in terms of runs over England in Rajkot on a reasonably placid surface. After scoring 430/4 in their second innings, India declared the innings, setting England a mammoth target of 557 runs. The visitors crumbled under pressure and folded up for 122 in less than 40 overs as home boy Ravindra Jadeja claimed five wickets.
Speaking after India gained the significant 2-1 lead in the five-match series, Rohit asserted that his side is a versatile one that doesn’t depend on surfaces for Test victories.
“We have won a lot of matches on such wickets before. The turning tracks and on pitches where the ball turns remain our strength. It gives us balance. We have given results for many years and we will get results in the future as well. But we don't have control over certain things - we don't discuss whether we want rank turners or not. We come here (at the venues) two days before the match and how much can we do anyway in two days?,” he said.
“The curators decide and make the pitch. We have the strength to play on any wicket and win on it. When we won the Test in South Africa (at Cape Town), everyone knows what kind of wicket it was,” he added.
The 36-year-old pointed out that Indian team have faced different challenges in the first three Tests of the series and have tried their best to deal with them.
“(In) the last three Tests we played, there were different challenges. In the first Test (Hyderabad), the ball was spinning and the pitch was slow. In Vizag, it was (keeping) low. As the game progressed, the wicket became slower. Here, it played well for the first three days,” he said.
“Today, we saw that the ball was turning and it was low. This is (in) the nature (of pitches), we get pitches like these in India. But if we get rank turners, we will play on them as well,” Rohit explained.
The Indian captain was all praise for all-rounder Jadeja, who scored a hundred in the first innings and claimed five wickets in England’s second innings. Stating that the left-arm spinner understands the conditions very well, Rohit said, “We've seen him over the years, he understands the conditions really well. He knows exactly what his game is. Here, he is no different. This is his hometown so more than anyone else, he knows these conditions better.
“If you see the past couple of years, he's actually come out and scored some crucial runs for us. Whether it's in India or outside India as well. He's batting really well and the confidence is there with the bat, which is why we thought of sending him up the order as well (in the first innings),” Rohit added.
While Jadeja was the Player of the Match for his all-round show, there were a couple of very impressive performances from the young guns. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal scored his second double ton in successive Tests, while debutant Sarfaraz Khan scored half-centuries in both innings.
--By A Cricket Correspondent
