India vs Sri Lanka 1st ODI: Jasprit Bumrah’s Test call-up a reward for hard work, says Rohit Sharma

Jasprit Bumrah has been phenomenal with the ball, picking 35 wickets in 20 ODIs. (Source: AP)

Rohit Sharma addressed the media ahead of the opening ODI against Sri Lanka in Dharamsala. The stand-in skipper for the limited overs series, before shifting focus to South Africa away, touched base on Jasprit Bumrah’s emergence to the Test side and how he will be an asset following some time off, combinations in the middle order, switching from being the captain of IPL side Mumbai Indians to the Indian national team and his own personal showing in the Test matches against Sri Lanka. India beat Sri Lanka 1-0 in the three-match series. Excerpts:

On Jasprit Bumrah’s call-up in Test

It is a great boost for him to be part of the Test team. He was looking forward to it. For a while, he was wanting to be a part for it. It is all the reaward from what he has done in the ODIs and T20Is. Over the last year or so, how he has improved on his bowling and fitness. It is a lesson for many cricketers, that if you put in the hard yards, you will get the results and will be awarded. He has played with me in Mumbai and I have seen him grow every game. He comes up with new strategies and new plans. And it is good to see that he has matured as a bowler. Being focused and disciplined in terms of his work ethics and that is what is giving him the results on the field. After the one and a half month break, he is looking a lot fresher. He has worked upon his body at NCA and is much rejuvenated now.

On leading the Indian cricket team

It will be a different ball game all together. but the process and basics of captaincy of leading any team will remain the same. There are different set of players that I had in the IPL team and this is completyely different. Having played with these guys for quite sometime, I do understand their strength and weaknesses. So it will be all about going out and executing and making everybody comfortable. I don’t think I need to change anything, I just need to carry from where we left as a team. For me also, I am not going to change a lot, basics of captaincy will remain the same. I will try to stay in present, something I always try to do while captaining.

On new combinations in the middle order

It is important to give these guys a fair number of games before they prove themselves. I think it is important for them to get number of games and confidence. Guys like Shreyas, Manish, Kedar and DK having gotten number of games on the trot. As a team mnagement, we want to make sure that whoever gets an opportunity, they get n number of games. If they want to try and prove themselves, they need to have number of games under their belt. And having said that they understand that they need to perform as well as there is a lot of competition in the middle. They have to grab that opportunity and whoever grabs the opportunity is in the playing 11. It is important for them to understand as well that there are lot of guys waiting to grab the opportunity but we don’t want them to carry any pressure. We just want them to go out on the field and they are not carring any pressure.

On his performance in Test series

Personally, for me it was important that I had to be ready for an opportunity. In last few years, the combination we have been playing with allowed the captain to go with five bowlers at times and five batsmen at times. I wanted to prepare myself in the manner that I am ready for a game anytime. That’s what happened in Nagpur where I got a game and was ready for it. I am happy with the way the Test series has gone and I want to continue from where I left. I don’t want to put pressure on myself and want to enjoy my game.