It was Ravindra Jadeja in first innings and Ravichandran Ashwin in the second. The two Indian spinners did not let Aussies dominate a single session with the bat as they bagged fifers in the Nagpur Test to help India win by an innings and 132 runs. After the comprehensive win, Rohit Sharma revealed the toughest challenge he faced in the Test which was juggling between the two spinners. In the post-match press conference Rohit said that both these bowlers know about the milestones they are approaching and ask for the ball whenever one feels he is being under-bowled.
"It's a little tough. They are all reaching their personal milestones. Jadeja was on 249 wickets and he was telling me, 'mere ko ball de' (give me the ball)," Rohit said as his comments amused the media.
"Ashwin was on four wickets and he wanted a five-for and that was the challenge I was facing. I really don't know too much about milestones but these guys know about it, so yeah that's the challenge of captaining them rather than deciding which end to give them or not."
Rohit even compared Jadeja, Ashwin and Axar Patel to Australia’s pace trio Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc.
“It's like captaining (Pat) Cummins, (Josh) Hazlewood and (Mitchell) Starc in Australia. Pretty similar. When you have the quality of Axar, Jadeja, and Ash, having played in India for so many years, playing on pitches like these, it's always a blessing,” Rohit said as India wrapped up the first Test on Day 3.
"Conditions are there for everyone but what they extract from those conditions make them really, really special. They have played on these pitches a lot and they know which areas to hit, how to keep applying that pressure."
Ashwin’s 35th fifer helped India bundle out Australia for a paltry 91, their lowest total against India in the 21st century.
"Ashwin has played so much cricket in India and is closing in on playing 100 Tests (89). I am pretty sure he has played most of those Tests in India and not to forget the first-class games as well before he made his debut," Rohit explained when asked to compare the Indian and Australian spinners.
