India captain Rohit Sharma said he was surprised at Australia’s second innings meltdown, when the visiting team was bowled out in a session to hand India an innings win in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series-opener.
“We were prepared for a hard day’s bowling, spending session after session. We never thought they would get bowled out in a session,” Rohit said after India annihilated Australia by bowling it out for its second lowest total against, and lowest in, India.
“As you saw, the pitch became slower and slower and there was no bounce, so it was a bit of a surprise for me,” he said.
However, despite the facile win, Rohit was wary of Australia bouncing back in the same manner that India did Down Under two years ago after being bowled out for 36 in the first Test.
“Australia is always a good team and the good thing about this (India) team is that we don’t care about what happened in the past. We live in the present and not think too much of what happened,” Rohit said.
“A lot of guys who played in that series are not there for Australia also. They love playing Test cricket and they take pride in representing the country, so we are quite aware of their ability to bounce back and what they can do as a team,” he said.
Praise for Ashwin
Rohit was expectedly full of praise for R. Ashwin, who not only crossed the 450-wicket mark but also inched closer to earning 100 Test wickets against Australia with his sixth five-wicket haul against the Kangaroos.
“He is a very studious guy and likes to understand his game and take it to the next level. He is getting better and better every time and he looks a different bowler,” Rohit said. “He has always been a good bowler, but he looks a different bowler every time he plays Test cricket. That’s what good cricketers do, they try and up their game and try to reach the next level.”
