Rohit Sharma Lauds Team India's Character Following Their Successful Comeback After Adelaide Fiasco

Indian opener Rohit Sharma has lauded the Ajinkya Rahane-led unit for the character and composure that they displayed to notch up an eight-wicket win in the Boxing Day Test against Australia at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday.

It is a remarkable comeback by the Men in Blue given the fact that they had come into the Test match with several mental scars from the humiliating 36 all-out in the second innings of the Adelaide Test and also because they were without three of their most important players in skipper Virat Kohli, and the pace-bowling duo of Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami, who had joined his fellow senior paceman in the injury list after he suffered a fracture in his bowling arm courtesy a searing Pat Cummins bouncer during that forgettable second innings.

‘India made a whole host of changes to their playing 11 for the Boxing Day Test and every change that they made proved to be a masterstroke.

Shubman Gill, who replaced his former U-19 teammate Prithvi Shaw, showed remarkable composure and of-course his precocious skills while countering the hostile Australian pace-attack in both the innings.

Rishabh Pant, who came into the Test replacing Wriddhiman Saha, might not have had a fruitful outing behind the stumps but he did make a huge impact with the bat thanks to a whirlwind 29 in the first innings, one that helped shift the momentum in India’s favor. Ravindra Jadeja had come in the game as a replacement for Virat Kohlu, had a brilliant game with both bat and ball as he claimed two crucial second-innings wickets besides scoring a brilliant half-century in the first innings.

Mohammed Siraj too had a brilliant outing as he became the 4th overseas bowler to claim a total of five wickets in his maiden Test on Australian soil. But the real hero of the game turned out to be India’s captain Ajinkya Rahane, who not only scored a match-winning hundred to set-up the game for his team, but he also impressed with his pro-active captaincy. And, it was only fitting that the Indian middle-order batsman scored the winning runs.

Rohit Sharma, who is set to join the Indian contingent for the rest of the series, took to his Twitter account where he lauded the team for the manner in which they have responded after a soul-crushing humbling in the first Test.

Fantastic win for the Team India at the MCG. Character and composure shown throughout the game was excellent to watch  @bcci”- Rohit Sharma wrote.

Fantastic win for the Team India at the MCG. Character and composure shown throughout the game was excellent to watch @bcci

— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) December 29, 2020