Opening batsman Rohit Sharma said that they knew wicket would aid seamers and spinners in the first 40-45 minutes of the day
Indian opening batsman Rohit Sharma said that their first target was to reach England's total since it wasn't that big, on his gameplan after India lost three wickets in the first session on the second day of the fourth Test against England. Resuming their innings on 24/1, India didn't have a great start as they lost Cheteshwar Pujara and skipper Virat Kohli early in the first hour. Ajinkya Rahane came and hit a few shots before he too departed and became the second victim of James Anderson.
Answering a DNA query about how the pitch played and what was his and Rishabh Pant's gameplan when they were reduced to 80/4 in the first session, Rohit said, "The pitch was fine, absolutely good to bat on. There was some help for the bowlers - seamers and the spinners - and we know that early on there's a lot of moisture on the pitch [and] we need to get through that 40-45 minutes at the beginning and we did that pretty well actually. Unfortunately, we lost Pujara at the time but I think we played that spell of [James] Anderson and [Ben] Stokes pretty well. Yes, of course, they bowled in good areas, got some wickets as well but it was important for us to assess the pitch and try and build partnerships."
Talking about their first major target, Rohit said, "The first innings total of theirs was a very small total so we needed to get the total of theirs first."
Rohit admitted that Test cricket is challenging irrespective of conditions, so they had to accept that and respect the opposition as there will be times when the batsmen will be tested and challenged but they knew that there was something on offer for the bowlers.
According to Rohit, who made a patient 49 off 144 balls, the only way they could get through that initial period was to just keep batting. "We knew we are in the game if we keep batting as long as possible."
The 33-year old opening batsman also heaped praise on the attacking century by Rishabh Pant and his 113-run partnership with Washington Sundar, which helped India first get to England's score of 205 and then gain a sizeable lead of 89 runs at the end of the day's play.
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