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Following India's defeat in the second Test match against New Zealand on Saturday, October 24 at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, skipper Rohit Sharma defended spin-twins Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Notably, New Zealand gained an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the series after defeating India by 113 runs in the second Test.
The two matches have not been particularly memorable for spin all-rounders Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who are among the series' underachievers. Jadeja and Ashwin have each taken six wickets in the first two games at averages of 37.50 and 43.50. Consequently, after winning 18 straight series, India suffered their first home series loss since 2012.
Rohit Sharma comes out in defence of Ashwin and Jadeja
After India's defeat, Rohit defended Ashwin and Jadeja, claiming that their criticism is unfair and that they bear enormous expectations in every match.
"I don’t think that’s fair, it’s the responsibility of all of us to make sure that we get the Test match wins. Not just the two guys, they have played a major role in helping us win 18 consecutive series at home. So couple of series, I’m not going to look too much into it especially with those two guys. They know exactly what happens and sometimes they’re allowed to have some bad games here and there. We got to be ready with other guys also to step in," said Rohit in the post-match press conference.
Speaking further ahead, he stated that the bowling unit as a whole has a duty to assist and encourage one another.
"If Ash doesn’t do well it’s Jadeja who needs to come to the party or Washy or Kuldeep or Axar. So it has to be shared amongst everyone. But yeah washy had a great game we’re really happy with that. Again you’re talking about someone who’s taken 500 and 300 wickets respectively so they know exactly how they’ve gotten those wickets. And how they’ve every time come out and won Test matches for us. So, it’s a very hard ball on them to just have that expectation everytime that they need to take wickets for us. It can happen that things won’t work out for them," he added.
Their chances of making it to the World Test Championship (WTC) final have been significantly decreased as a result of consecutive defeats. As they go ready to play New Zealand in the third Test at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai starting on Friday, November 1, they will need to win four of their final six games.
