While Indian captain Rohit Sharma was full of praise for all the young players, who led India to a memorable win in Ranchi during the India vs England 4th Test, he also took a shot at the players who are not prioritising the test format for any reason. During the press conference after India won the 4th test by 5 wickets, Rohit Sharma targeted the youngsters and conveyed a clear message.
“Jin logon ko bhookh hai, hum unhi logon ko mauka denge (We will give opportunities to only those who are hungry),” asserted Rohit Sharma after India vs England 4th test.
“Agar hunger nahi hai to unko khila ke koi matlab nahi hai (There’s no point in playing those who don’t have the hunger),” he added.
“This is the toughest format and in this tough format if you want success and want to excel then you will have to keep that hunger in you,” said the Indian captain.
Though Rohit Sharma didn’t name any specific cricketer, it is reckoned that the message was for Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, who have skipped the domestic tournaments.
Notably, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer have come under the scanner of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), of late, for not participating in the Ranji Trophy matches despite being fully fit.
Wicketkeeper batter Ishan Kishan accompanied Team India in the South Africa tour in 2023, however, he midway pulled out of the tour citing personal reasons. Since then the young glovesman hasn’t featured in any international or domestic cricket match.
Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer has also not reported to his domestic association for the Ranji Trophy matches. To add to it, Iyer informed that he is carrying some injury, in response to which, the National Cricket Academy (NCA) reported that the batter hasn’t reported any injury concerns at the NCA.
It’s noteworthy that the BCCI came into action soon after knowing the details of the two aforementioned batters and put it straight that non-participation in the Ranji Trophy matches will lead to “severe implications” for the players.
Rohit Sharma lauds youngsters part of India vs England 4th test
Team India, on Monday, sealed the ongoing 5-match test series between India and England by winning the 4th test in Ranchi by 5 wickets. The hosts took an unassailable lead of 3-1 in the series after going down in the opening fixture.
Youngsters part of the Indian playing11 for the test stepped up and became the chief architect of India’s victory in Ranchi. The likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, and Sarfaraz Khan among others were among the players in the limelight for their valuable contributions.
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has scored over 650 runs in the ongoing series at an impressive average of 93.57. He scored 73 in the first innings and supplemented it with 37-run knock in the second innings of the 4th test.
Wicketkeeper batter Dhruv Jurel scored a magnificent 90 runs in the first innings of the recently held test and added an unbeaten 39 runs to take India home against England.
“Lot of these guys are quite young and you’ll see these guys playing in the coming 5-10 years regularly in this format for sure,” Rohit said after the win. “The way they have come and took the responsibility, scored a lot of runs, big runs and with the ball as well some of these guys were quite impressive.”
“A lot of these guys are quite grounded, to be honest. Jaiswal is still hunky-dory, but other than that all these guys are quite humble, they come from a humble background, so they obviously take that into their game as well. Our job is to make sure that the environment is there for them to go out there and do the job, and that is what we try and do with a lot of these younger players.”
“They have spent a lot of time playing domestic cricket, so they are quite aware of this particular format, playing longer innings, bowling longer spells, they’re quite aware of that. And just when they come in for a series like this, obviously it’s important for us to understand what their thinking is, and then obviously mix and match a little bit with what we think and what they think, and then you form a strategy around it.”
India and England will now head to Himachal Pradesh for the final game of the 5-match test series. The India vs England 5th test begins on March 07 at the HPCA Stadium in Dharmshala.
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