'You belong here': Rohit's only words to Jaiswal after India's victory against WI
I
ndia's skipper Rohit Sharma didn't hold back to laud youngster Yasasvi Jaiswal whose impressive knock of 171 laid the foundation for the victory against West Indies in the two-match Test series on Friday at Windsor Park.
Jaiswal made the most of the opportunity that came to him in his debut Test. He took on the bowlers, didn't panic and managed to hold on to his nerves throughout his 501 minutes innings.
The Indian skipper shared some special words on the Test debutant Yasahsvi Jaiswal and said in the post-match presentation, "He has the talent, he has shown us in the past that he is ready. Came and batted sensibly. The temperament was also tested, at no stage he was panicking."
Rohit, who also holds the experience of scoring a ton on his Test debut against the Windies a decade ago, said that all he told Jaiswal during their partnership was that he belonged at the Test level.
"In the middle, it was just about having a chat, letting him know, 'You belong here.' That is the most important thing, because when you're playing your first Test match, you kind of keep asking yourself whether you belong here or not, but my job from the other side was to just keep telling him, 'You've done all the hard yards, it's just about enjoying your time in the middle. Don't worry about the results, just enjoy your time, and if you do that the results will flow.," Rohit added.
He also went on to praise the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja after they outclassed the hosts batting set-up throughout the Test match.
Ashwin made a roaring comeback after being dropped from the World Test Championship 2023 final squad against Australia. He made short work of West Indies batters on a deteriorating pitch which continued to offer extra spin and bounce to spinners.
Considering the pitch and the overall conditions, Rohit said that it is a "luxury" to have spinners like them who have the experience to perform in such conditions.
"The results speak for themselves, they have been doing it for a while. There isn't much to tell them, it is about giving them the freedom to express. The experience these guys have on pitches like this is always a luxury. Both Ash and Jadeja were superb, especially Ashwin for coming out and bowling this way was class," Rohit said.
Rohit further went on to say that the never intended to come out and bat for a second time. They were looking to bat long get enough runs to restrict Windies on a surface where runs didn't come by that easily.
"I would like to start by saying it was a great effort with the ball. Getting them out for 150 set the game for us. We knew batting would get tough, it wasn't easy to score runs. We knew we wanted to bat only once and bat long. Get over 400 runs and then we came out and bowled really well," Rohit added.
While coming to the match, over the course of three days, India dominated the hosts in every session.
West Indies bundled out at a total of 150 runs on the first day. India's batter fought for the remaining overs on Day 1, the entirety of Day 2 and the opening session of Day 3. Rohit and Jaiswal's opening stand was enough to see off the trail and add some runs to their kitty for a solid lead before they lost their first wicket.
Ashwin claimed seven scalps in the second innings to ensure India's victory before the end of Day 3.
✔️ 'You belong here': Rohit's only words to Jaiswal after India's victory against WI
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