'Rohit Sharma let the game drift in Hyderabad but...' - Dinesh Karthik hails India captain after 'statement victory' in Rajkot

Rohit Sharma led the team to another victory in Rajkot as India won the third Test against England by a huge 434-run margin. It was the biggest win for India in Test cricket in terms of runs and they performed brilliantly in all departments to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. Former England skipper Michael Vaughan and Dinesh Karthik talked about Rohit Sharma’s captaincy in Tests as he has been brilliant as a skipper in this series after the series opener hiccup in Hyderabad.

Michael Vaughan asked Dinesh Karthik whether Rohit Sharma made a statement as a Test captain by winning the Test match against England without the presence of key players like KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami, and Rishabh Pant. Dinesh Karthik agreed to it and also added that Ravichandran Ashwin was also missing when India was bowling in the first innings and still Rohit Sharma was brilliant as a skipper.

“Yes, I would say so. Mainly because you’ve said the four names but most importantly in that first innings when India bowled they didn’t have Ashwin. Now that’s a big miss in India and despite that, he has made this Test match happen for India. Now that says a lot about his captaincy, yes there were a few murmurs and talks about how he could’ve led the team well and I agree there were times in Hyderabad when he let the game drift,” said Dinesh Karthik on CricBuzz.

“He did a good job in Vizag and I think he has come back stronger. Ben Duckett made it hard for him in the first innings but he kind of found a way to comeback on the third day even without an Ashwin. Now you add the others, the KL Rahul, Kohli, Shami and Rishabh Pant, this is a very strong Indian team and all of them are there,” Karthik added.

Watch- Dinesh Karthik praises Rohit Sharma for finding answers to the questions asked by Bazball

'Under-fire #RohitSharma will be happy with clinical 3rd #INDvENG Test win'@DineshKarthik & @MichaelVaughan dissect #Rohit's leadership, on #CricbuzzChatter #India pic.twitter.com/amBKUwyZhI

— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) February 19, 2024

“There are gonna be plenty of headaches for selections but that’s for another day. But what I must say is that Rohit has done a fabulous job of leading this team and for once he will feel good about himself, he’ll know that he has a couple of Test matches to go but he has kind of found the answers to a lot of questions that Bazball raised in the first week of the series, so it’s been a great eye-opener for him as a captain.”

India is ahead in the series against England by 2-1 as they won the Rajkot Test by a huge margin of 434 runs. The first Test was lost by India as England defeated the hosts by 28 runs but the Rohit Sharma-led team made a sensational comeback to win the second and third Test in Vizag and Rajkot by 106 runs and 434 runs respectively. The fourth Test will be played at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association Stadium in Ranchi commencing on February 23, Friday.

India is yet to lose a Test series at home since the 2012 2-1 loss against England and the hosts are on a streak winning 16 consecutive home Test series. They are looking to win the Test series again in India to make it 17 consecutive Test series wins.