New Delhi. Indian captain Rohit Sharma credited his players for the win against Bangladesh in Kanpur, who took risks and secured the win despite two days of play being washed out due to rain. Only 35 overs were bowled on the first three days, but India overcame the weather, time and Bangladesh to win the series 2-0 and further strengthen their lead in the World Test Championship (WTC). After lunch on the fourth day, India had all out Bangladesh for 233 runs. After this, the Indian batsmen led by Rohit batted aggressively. Rohit himself hit sixes on the first two balls. Other batsmen also batted in this manner knowing that the result could go either way. Rohit said on BCCI Dot TV that the bowlers did a good job first. They took the wickets we needed and when we went in we had to take a bit of risk to get the result. I know the result could have gone either way, but it doesn’t matter to me. This is what coach Gautam Gambhir and other players were also thinking because you have to be courageous to take such decisions. When things go right everything starts looking good and this is where things can change rapidly.
If things were not in place then everyone would have criticized this decision but what matters is what we think inside the changing room. That’s what matters and that’s what we went into that match with. The strategy was clear about the results we wanted and how we could get them. Everyone was looking for the answer. I think it was a great series. Attention cannot be diverted from this series. Under Rohit’s captaincy, India have adopted an aggressive approach in all three formats, even in the World Cups and it was no different in Kanpur, where WTC points were at stake. So what does aggression mean for Rohit? He said, “For me aggression is your job. It’s not about my reaction: the kind of batting we do, the kind of fielding we do, the kind of bowling we do, that’s aggression for me. See, without the help of the other ten players and obviously without the help of the people sitting in the dressing room, it would not have been possible for us to win the match even after losing two to two and a half days. When we came here on the morning of the fourth day, first thing, they (Bangladesh) were batting and we needed to get them out.
We needed seven wickets early, so I thought everything would start from there. Both as a batsman and a leader, Rohit has transformed India into prioritizing winning over everything else. He said that his captaincy style is based on trusting his discretion and decisions. Rohit said that when you are playing at such a high level, you need everything. You need to remain calm, think sensibly. You have to take a lot of decisions on the field. Not every decision will suit you, but you have to support it and use your experience, use your knowledge. So that’s what I do. I’ve been big on trusting my decisions on the field, I trust the decisions I make on the field. And then I go by it. There are players around me who are ready to give suggestions, but at the end of the day I trust my brain and I trust my decisions and that’s what matters. Some important catches changed the course of the match: Rohit was also impressed with India’s fielding, especially their slip catching, during the home Test series against Bangladesh.
It was Yashasvi Jaiswal who set the tone on the first day in Kanpur, where he took a good low catch to dismiss Zakir Hasan for duck. Then, in Bangladesh’s second innings, Jaiswal completed another good catch while at gully to send Shadman Islam back for 50 and lead India to victory. “I was just told that out of the 24 catches that came to us, we took 23 catches, which is a fantastic result especially in the slips,” Rohit said. You don’t often see the ball being carried to slip in India. But the people who stood behind were very fast and taking those catches may look easy on television (Lena Television), but it is not so, trust me, because they stand further forward than they normally do, all those catches It is very difficult to take those catches. The response times are very short and I’ve noticed that they put a lot of effort into getting things right. And fielding coach T Dilip is helping the players. Some important catches also which changed the course of the match.