Rohit reckons too much is made out of India's recent struggles on seaming wickets; confident of team coping when they play on pacy pitches of SA
The Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium here on Sunday provided a glimpse of what could be in store for the Indian team when they travel to South Africa later this month. With Team India now opting for no warm-up games before the three-Test series kicks off in Cape Town on January 5, the Indian batsmen's inability to tackle pace and bounce has gathered momentum and fears of getting rolled over by the South African pacers have emerged stronger.
India's Shreyas Iyer's stump is uprooted during the first ODI against Sri Lanka at the HPCAâÂu00c2u0080Âu00c2u0088Stadium in Dharamsala on Sunday. Pic/PTI
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As part of India's preparation for the upcoming South Africa tour, the team management decided to play the Test series on seaming tracks. They got a perfect track to stimulate themselves in the opening Test at Kolkata with Sri Lankan pacer Suranga Lakmal exploited the conditions to the maximum at Eden Gardens. India were bowled out for 172 in their first innings with Cheteshwar Pujara top-scoring with 52. For the opening ODI of the three-match series here on Sunday, the Indian batsmen were confronted with similar seaming conditions which further exposed their technique.
Rohit Sharma
Barring MS Dhoni's stubborn 65, no other batsman showed the application of how to play on a pitch where there is some assistance for bowlers. India, sans regular skipper Virat Kohli, managed just 112. The Indian batsmen have got a reality check of where they stand in their preparation with the way they applied themselves in the Kolkata Test and in the opening ODI. However, India's ODI skipper Rohit Sharma refused to draw any comparisons between the Test and the ODI teams' struggles on seaming pitches.
"This is a one-day side. I don't think there is any comparison with the Test team. Yes, we struggled in the Kolkata Test as well, but any team will struggle in those type of conditions. I have seen enough cricket and we recently saw in the Ashes as well, what was happening there. In conditions like these, one or two batsmen will score decent amount of runs, not all the batsmen will score," said Rohit after the devastating seven-wicket loss. Rohit is confident that the Indian team will perform better if they are confronted with similar seaming conditions again. "As a batting unit, days like these will teach us a lot of things. We will not always get to play on flat pitches and we as a team want to thrive in such conditions and come out on top. If we are put in that situation again, we will respond better," Rohit signed off.
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