The Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has broken silence about declaring the inning in the first test against Sri Lanka on March 6. Sharma, who was captaining his first Test since given the responsibility, said that it was rather Ravindra Jadeja who made the call to put an end to the inning.
Team India completely dominated the visitors in the first Test. Batting first the hosts put up a massive 574 (declared) for the Sri Lankans to chase. But the Indian opener became the subject of huge backlash for declaring the batting just when Jadeja was so close to hitting a double century. The all-rounder was at 175 when he and his teammate were called back to the dressing room and it did not go too well with the cricket fans. The head of the blue shirts was slammed for saving his own reputation.
After the match, Rohit Sharma opened up the declaration decision and revealed that the spinner himself decided to end their turn. The ace spinner wanted the tired Sri Lankans to bat for stumps on day 2 and did not think of his own achievement for the team’s sake and his decision did pay off his side very well.
The visitors in reply could only score 174 and then another 178 when forced to follow on. The 33-year-old went on to take nine wickets and was the adjudged player of the match for his all-round performance. In the post-match press conference, the first time Test captain praised Jadeja and called him selfless
“The highlight of the game was Jadeja. There was a question whether to declare or not, it was the team’s decision and Jadeja’s decision to put them in and shows how selfless he is.”
India won the match with an inning and 222 runs. The team has bagged 12 World Test Championship points as a result of the stellar win. The next match begins on March 12 in Bengaluru.
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