Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has said that they will back their strengths in the upcoming Test series against England and they are not bothered on how the opposition is going to play. India has always been a force to reckon with in their conditions and the spinners have done a terrific job for them.
On the other hand, England batters have taken Test cricket by storm as they have adopted Bazball and have scored their runs at a rapid pace. England has won 13 out of the 19 Test matches under the tutelage of head coach Brendon McCullum and skipper Ben Stokes.
The English team has been aggressive in all facets of the game and they have reaped rewards in the red-ball version. However, Rohit feels it is important for them to back their strengths.
“We’ll look to play our cricket. I’m not interested in looking at how the opposition is going to play and all of that. For us, it’s important that we look into our cricket. Focus on what we need to do as a team and then take it from there,” Rohit Sharma said in the pre-match press conference.
Earlier, head coach Rahul Dravid had confirmed that KL Rahul won’t keep wickets. Rohit revealed they will play either Dhruv Jurel or KS Bharat after assessing the conditions.
“Yeah, obviously those are the two keepers [Bharat and Jurel] in the squad. We’ll see and assess the performance. We are obviously looking at the bigger picture. We want to give as many games as possible to the individual. But we’ll assess after every game what happens and what is right for the team. Whatever is right for the team will do the necessary things,” the 36-year-old commented.
On the other hand, the Indian captain Rohit Sharma added that Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Siraj are important players for them.
“Ashwin and Siraj have been important players for us. Siraj has come up through the ranks in the last two years. He has proved himself in various conditions for us. He has taken his game to another level. Ashwin is class. We know his quality. Every time he takes the field, he tends to impresses all of us,” the Indian captain said.
India and England will take on each other in the first Test match from 25th January onwards at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad.
