Mohali: Team India skipper Rohit Sharma heaped praise on Ravindra Jadeja, who starred in the first Test against Sri Lanka with 175* and nine wickets in the game.
“He’s one of the top. Look at the performances: to get 175 not out and then take nine wickets in the game; he’s just upping his game every time you see him. In the past when we played in India, his contribution with the bat lower down the order and taking those crucial wickets, he just seems to be adding a lot more to his game every time he plays. He’s very hungry; as you can see that hunger drives athletes to move forward and I see that in Jadeja clearly. He’s quite hungry for success, quite hungry to get runs and do well for the team,” said Rohit in the virtual post-match press conference.”
Rohit further said he wants to utilise Jadeja more often with the bat.
“When I talk about certain things, he’s very open-minded and wants to take responsibilities and challenges. An example of it was in T20Is against Sri Lanka. Casually asked him if he would be willing to bat up in the order; he was open for it, which is why we asked him to bat up the order.
“As a captain, I want to utilise Jadeja more often with the bat. We all know about his bowling and everyone knows about his fielding. I want to utilise his batting a lot more in the future and I hope I get that opportunity as we have got a lot of young players who we need to see. But Jadeja seems to be up there, in my mind. He’s good in all three facets of the game; gives so much to the team and gives balance as well. Definitely, one of the top four he is.”
The newly-appointed skipper added that it was a near-flawless dominating performance from Team India.
“I think so; you can say that. I have been a part of many Test matches in India where the performances have been of a similar kind where we have got big runs and wrapped two innings of the opposition and won the game with innings to left. You can say this is one of them, definitely.
“I thought it was a near-perfect game for us as a team. We bowled and batted well; I thought we took our chances on the field except maybe one or two here and there. That happens and that is where I think we just need to sharpen up a little bit more and make sure that we are 1105 on the field when we go out there.”
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