India captain takes heart from India having put the pressure back on Australia late in the Gabba Test, despite having fallen behind earlier
Rohit Sharma took heart from India’s performance at the Gabba, particularly in the way they were able to save the follow-on and then take a few quick wickets when Australia were batting in the second innings.
Although they fell behind in the game – after winning the toss and choosing to bowl – KL Rahul held the batting together in their first innings with his 84 and their lower-order rallied hard enough to effectively dismiss Australia’s hopes of a win. India were helped in large parts by the rain in Brisbane which affected all but one day’s play.
“This thing has been in our team for a while now that we don’t give up easily, whatever the situation. We want to keep fighting. Even when we bowled in the second innings, we had the same intensity that we wanted to bowl them out for 60-70 runs because we knew they would play their shots and look to score quickly. That gives you opportunities and we get some as well. But we didn’t have enough time to chase 270-280 in 50 overs.”
Australia batted with the purpose of setting up a declaration on day five, so they went out and took a lot of risks and in the process lost a lot of wickets. They declared on 89 for 7 and had about one session or so to go for a win but then the rains came again.
“There’s pressure on the other team too,” Rohit said. “Until you put some pressure on the other team you won’t come to know how they react under pressure. When we were here last, we had chased 320-330 [328] on the last day and they’ll remember that in the back of their mind, they know we are capable of chasing like this. Whatever happened today, it gave us confidence ahead of Melbourne. We’re aware we have to start from scratch, conditions are different there and the ball may not move around so much there like it did here. We have to analyse all this and proceed.”
Rohit’s own form is a matter of concern as well with the 10 he scored in Brisbane being his highest score in four innings so far on the tour, including a practice game in Canberra.
“For a person like me, I think it’s all about how I feel in my mind. What kind of prep I am having before each game. And how I am feeling about myself. That’s the most important thing. And I am feeling good about myself, to be honest.”
Rohit on his batting
“Yeah, I have not batted well. There is no harm in accepting that. But I know what’s in my mind. How I am preparing myself. All those boxes are very much ticked. It’s just about spending as much time as possible [batting].
“Which I am pretty sure I am just there. As long as my mind, my body, my feet are moving well. I am pretty happy with how things are panning out for me. Sometimes those numbers can tell you that it’s been a while since he has got big runs. But for a person like me, I think it’s all about how I feel in my mind. What kind of prep I am having before each game. And how I am feeling about myself. That’s the most important thing.
“And I am feeling good about myself, to be honest. Yeah, runs are obviously not showing that. But inside it’s a different feeling.”
India move to Melbourne on Thursday for the fourth Test of the series which remains locked at 1-1, and the team is fairly pleased with that state of affairs.
“It might appear that we were lagging behind in this Test but we take a lot from here,” Rohit said. “I’m immensely proud of the attitude we have shown because runs and wickets are one thing, but if your attitude and character are good then you can turn the impossible into possible.”
Alagappan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
