Rohit Sharma was full of praise for pacer Mohammed Siraj after the 29-year-old was declared the player of the match for his fifer in the second Test between India and West Indies which finished in a draw on Monday. With the latest result in Trinidad, India clinched the Test series 1-0.
They had won the first Test in Dominica by an innings and 141 runs.
Reflecting on Siraj’s fifer in the first innings on a flat track, Rohit said that the pacer has taken a ‘giant step’ in international cricket, but he doesn’t expect one bowler to lead the pace attack.
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“Siraj, I have been watching closely. He’s taken such a giant step. He has led this attack. I don’t want anyone to lead the attack. I want everyone to lead when they are having the ball in their hand. You want the entire pace battery taking the responsibility,” Rohit said at the presentation ceremony.
Chasing 365 to level the Test series, West Indies were 76/2 at the end of Day 4 and no play was possible on the last day of the series due to rain.
Reflecting on the result, Rohit said that he was quite confident of a win in the second Test but rain played spoilsport.
“We are in the right place. It’s about getting the job done,” Rohit said.
“Every win is different. Playing in West Indies has its own challenge. Happy with the way things went. We gave it a good shot, unfortunately, we couldn’t get any play today. We actually went out with a positive intent yesterday.
“Rain had its final say. We were quite confident. You know how difficult it is batting last. We always wanted that kind of score where we wanted the opposition to go for it. There wasn’t much on the surface. No play today, unfortunate for us.”
Despite rain constantly interrupting the play, it was India’s aggressive batting in the second innings that helped the visitors to set an imposing target with enough time to bowl only for rain to later ruin their chances.
India skipper Rohit also praised Ishan Kishan who slammed 52 off 34 balls in the second innings and centurion Virat Kohli.
“You need guys like Ishan. We wanted quick runs, we promoted him, he wasn’t afraid. He was the first one to put his hand up.”
“In Test matches, you need guys who stabilise the innings like what Virat did, he played superbly. You need a mixture of everything. We have depth, we have got variety,” Rohit said.
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