Border-Gavaskar trophy: We have to bat and bowl well and take good catches at Melbourne, says Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma addresses injury concerns and strategy for upcoming Test matches in Melbourne press conference.

In a tiny press-conference hall located in the basement of the massive Melbourne Cricket Ground, Rohit Sharma kept nodding his head. Even before the correspondent had finished enquiring about his left knee, the Indian skipper said: “It’s fine, it’s fine.”

The batter had suffered a blow during Sunday’s training but on Tuesday (December 24, 2024), Rohit was in good shape. If there was clarity on this issue, he preferred to keep the scribes guessing when asked about whether he will stay in the middle-order: “Who bats where is something that we need to figure out within ourselves. It’s not a thing which I should be discussing at every press-conference.”

Stepping into the fourth Test with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series level at 1-1, the visiting captain said: “We played some really good cricket and we have been fortunate as well. Nobody wants to give up until the last over and this is an attitude we have carried for a long time. Obviously in Adelaide (second Test), we didn’t play well. And then at Brisbane, only 180 or 190 overs were bowled. After three Tests, if I had to look at it as one-all, it is a fair reflection.”

Looking ahead at the last two contests, starting with the fourth Test in Melbourne from Thursday (December 26, 2024), Rohit said: “We want to break it down to just Melbourne and focus on what we can achieve here. Bat well, bowl well, and take some good catches.”

The skipper was quick to back Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant and Mohammed Siraj: “Jaiswal has already shown what he is capable of, and with that kind of a guy, you don’t want to tamper with his mindset.” And on Gill, Rohit added: “These tours can be challenging and it is not easy to put up big runs. Gill understands his batting well, just got to make sure that when you get those 30s and 40s, you try and get a big one.”

With Siraj being in Jasprit Bumrah’s shadow, there have been the odd query about the former’s relevance, and Rohit was quick to counter: “Siraj has really shown great attitude on this tour.” As for Pant, the skipper said: “He has a good record in Australia and just after three Tests here, it is not right to judge.”

When asked if he has any advice to a ‘modern-day great’ like Virat Kohli, Rohit quipped: “Modern day greats will figure their own path.” Later when probed about including spinner Tanush Kotian, Rohit clarified: “Tanush was here a month back and Kuldeep (Yadav) I don’t think has a visa. Jokes apart, we wanted somebody here quickly. Tanush has done well in the last two years and we wanted a back-up in case we need two spinners here or in Sydney.”