‘I don’t think that’s fair’: Rohit Sharma backs struggling Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja following Test series loss against New Zealand

New Delhi: Rohit Sharma has come to the defense of two of India’s premier match-winners in Test cricket following their series-deciding loss to New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune.

India’s spin duo, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, faced significant criticism following the series defeat to New Zealand in Pune, as their performances fell short, with Jadeja taking only three wickets and Ashwin managing five.

However, Rohit Sharma has expressed his support for both players, emphasizing that winning matches is a collective responsibility and not solely reliant on individual performances.

“I mean, see look, there is too much expectation on those two guys,” Rohit said in defence of Ashwin and Jadeja during the post-match press conference. “Every game they play, they are expected to take wickets, they are expected to run through the team, and they are expected to win Test matches for us. I don’t think that’s fair, it’s the responsibility of all of us to make sure that we get Test match wins, not just the two guys.”

Jadeja struggled on a pitch where his counterpart, Mitchell Santner, posed significant challenges for the Indian batters; the slow left-arm orthodox bowler went wicketless in the first innings and managed to claim three wickets in the second innings while conceding 72 runs.

In contrast, Ashwin had a marginally better performance, taking 3 for 64 in the first innings and 2 for 97 in the second, yet it fell short of his usual high standards.

“Of course, by their standards, they know where they stand and what they haven’t been able to do or what they haven’t done really well,” Rohit added. “But again, both of them have played so much cricket here and have such huge contributions to our success of having that home streak of 18 series (wins). These two have played a major role in that. A couple of series, I am not going to look into too much, especially with those two guys.

“They know exactly what happens and sometimes they are allowed to have some bad games here and there and not go by that expectation that this is the opportunity for me to take wickets and run through the opposition. That’s not going to happen every time. So you got to be ready with the other guys also to step in.”

The India captain also highlighted that wicket-taking is a collective effort, with every member of the bowling attack expected to contribute to managing the workload.

“Like we keep talking about with the batters it is not the responsibility of a few individuals, it is the collective batting unit that needs to come together,” Rohit mentioned. “So it’s the same with the bowling unit as well. If Ash doesn’t do well, it’s Jadeja who needs to come to the party or Washy (Washington Sundar) or Kuldeep (Yadav) or Axar (Patel), those guys.”