Indian National Cricket Team Captain Rohit Sharma star defended comprehensively Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin After they failed to perform in the first two ongoing Test matches series Against the New Zealand National Cricket Team.
Rohit Sharma said there were “too many expectations” from Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja to perform in all the matches, which was quite unfair for the all-rounder.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja failed in the first two Tests against New Zealand.
The duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja has undoubtedly been the biggest reason behind the Indian team’s dominance in the Test series at home.
Ashwin and Jadeja had back-to-back stunning performances with both bat and ball. teams visits India. However, they were fairly ineffective in the first two Tests against New Zealand, resulting in India losing their first Test series at home since the 2012-13 season.
In the first Test against the Kiwis in Bengaluru, Ashwin took one wicket and Jadeja took three wickets. With the bat, Ashwin recorded 0 and 15 while Jadeja recorded 0 and 5.
When the Test moved to Pune, the duo was expected to regain form, but it never happened again. Ashwin took 5 wickets and Jadeja only 3 wickets. Ashwin (4 and 18) and Jadeja (38 and 42) were also not in good form with the bat.
There are huge expectations from these two guys – Rohit Sharma
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Rohit Sharma said that Ashwin and Jadeja have set high standards for themselves, so they have to face the burden of high expectations. Rohit Sharma elaborated:
“There are high expectations for these two guys. In every game they play, they are expected to take wickets, run through the team and win test matches for us. I don’t think that’s fair.
“It’s not just two guys’ responsibility, it’s all of us’ responsibility to make sure we win the Test. Of course, by their own standards, they know where they stand and what they can’t do or what they don’t do really well.
“But again, they’ve both played a lot of cricket here and contributed a lot to our success of having an 18-run home series. Those two have been a big part of that…”
Rohit Sharma then said that Ashwin and Jadeja are allowed to have bad days and it won’t happen every time.
“They know exactly what’s going on and sometimes they’re allowed to have some bad plays here and there and they don’t have the expectation that it’s an opportunity for me to take wickets and get past the opposition. It’s not going to happen every time. So you’re ready to step up with the other guys. you have to,” added Rohit Sharma.
If Ash is not doing well, Jadeja should come to the party – Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma then spoke about the need for the bowlers to fire as a unit as anyone can be off-colour on a given day. He explained:
“As we keep talking to the batters, it’s not the responsibility of a few individuals, it’s a collective batting unit that needs to come together. So it is the same with the bowling section.
“If Ash is not doing well, Jadeja or Washy, Kuldeep or Akhar, those guys have to come to the party. Therefore, it should be shared among everyone,” he said.
“Washy had a great game, I’m proud of that. He is proud of it and we are happy with his performance. He bowled very well…”
Rohit Sharma said Ashwin and Jadeja have scored more than 800 runs together in Test cricket and are aware of what they need to do to shine again. He elaborated:
“But then again, we’re talking about someone who has taken 500 wickets and 300 wickets respectively. So they know exactly how they got those wickets and how they came out every time and won Test matches for us.
“So it’s very difficult for them to have that expectation every time they see they have to take wickets for us. It may happen, it may happen that things don’t work out for them, but it’s time for others to step in and take on that extra responsibility…”
