On Day 4 of the Rajkot Test, just before the drinks break, Yashasvi Jaiswal had completed his double century whereas Sarfaraz Khan had completed his second fifty on Test debut. Usually, with a lead of over 500 in the bag on Day 4 and after players achieved their personal milestones, the captain tends to declare but it wasn’t the case with Rohit Sharma.
Jaiswal and Khan had assumed that the captain had declared. England openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley had assumed it too as they ran up the stairs to get padded up. But Rohit shooed the young batters back to the ground. The move did not go well with England skipper Ben Stokes who gestured at the dressing room.
In the viral video, Rohit can be seen talking to all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja with one shoe in his hand. Then, he signalled his batters to go back and bat.
Sarfaraz makes the extra over count
In the next over, Sarfaraz got a license to attack. He hit leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed for two sixes and a four. He was dropped by wicketkeeper Ben Foakes as well. After the 18-run over, Rohit declared as India set a 557-run target. Sarfaraz remained unbeaten for 68 off 72 balls. On the other end, Jaiswal scored 214.
Rohit hails local boy Jadeja
In the run chase, England failed to put up a fight. They lost the openers in the second session itself and then suffered a massive batting collapse to get bowled out for 122 and lost the match by 434 runs. Jadeja took a five-wicket haul and was adjudged ‘Player of the match’.
Rohit lauded Jadeja for using the familiar conditions of his homeground to outclass England.
“We've seen him over the years, he understands the conditions really well. He knows exactly what his game is,” Rohit said.
“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),” the 36-year-old added.
India and England will go up against each other in the fourth Test in Ranchi starting February 23.
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