After the first test match against New Zealand in which the team faced a loss, Rohit Sharma who captains the cricket team of India hinted at the possible changes the team would make for the second test match in Pune which is scheduled to commence on Thursday October 24. Even after a valiant effort from Rohit and co. in the second innings after being all out for 46 runs in the first, New Zealand managed to achieve their first Test victory in India since 1988. In the quest of a target of 107 runs, Jasprit Bumrah (2/29) fought hard for India but Will Young (48) and Rachin Ravindra (39) gave the visitors a 1-0 series lead.
For the first match of the series, India had to leave out Shubman Gill from the playing XI because of a stiff neck. Sarfaraz Ahmed, who came in for him, did worse than Gill as he recorded a duck and then managed a king pair in the second innings.
Still, it was the Mumbai batter who was the main reason for adopting a recovery strategy, with a well-deserved 150 scored in the second innings-which also happened to be his first Test century.
After the defeat in Bengaluru, Rohit reported that Gill is ‘okay’ after missing the 1st Test, and in the process, hinted that the young batter could come back to the XI for the 2nd Test.
Should that be the case, India may have the option of dropping either Sarfaraz or the seasoned KL Rahul, who yet again could not establish the no. 6 position.
In the midst of all this unrest, Rohit dealt with the issue of Rahul, Gill and Sarfaraz. The Indian captain stated that everyone in the team is cognizant of what stage their career is at and what is required of them.
“Listen, I’m not the kind of person who gives speeches to players, after every match. They are well aware of their position in the game, and in their career. We do not shift our frame of reference from one match, one series. The concepts are expressed rather early, at the beginning, and they are aware of their position and the condition of the team exactly. And I don’t think anything that I am going to say is going to be any different from what I have been saying to them,” Rohit said at the post-match conference.
“It’s very much clear, it doesn’t matter who gets a chance, all of them will have to go out and contribute to the game. That is a very basic principle that we are always speaking about and it is always cool to have this kind of player yearning to compete. Sadly, this was the match that Shubman was absent, hence, Sarfaraz stepped in and he made an emphatic century. That’s a positive for the squad,” he added.
