India vs South Africa: Ravi Shastri lauds Rohit Sharma for having a mindset of Test opener

Team India head coach Ravi Shastri complimented opener Rohit Sharma for having the right mindset to become a successful Test batsman on Tuesday.

Shastri's comments came during the post-match interview after India defeated South Africa by 202 runs and an innings in the third and final Test match to triumph a 3-0 series sweep on Tuesday in Ranchi.

The day four of the Test match came to an early end when Shahbaz Nadeem, in his debut test match, secured the final two Proteas wickets in back-to-back deliveries as the visitors were all out for 133 runs during their second innings.

Theunis de Bruyn, who came into the side as Dean Elgar's concussion substitute, was the top scorer for the tourists with 30 runs.

Speaking on how good the batting has been from the Indian openers throughout the series, Shastri lauded Rohit for his tremendous batting contribution towards the side.

"What Rohit Sharma has done in this series is tremendous. The mindset of a Test opener is different," he said.  

"You can get out in the first 12 balls. You can get beaten if the pitch is good. But he wanted to survive the first two hours." 

The Mumbai batsman notched up two centuries and a double ton and his knock of 212 on Sunday helped him break Sir Don Bradman's 71-year-old record for the highest Test average at home after 10-plus innings.

The Hitman now averages 99.84 at home, surpassing Bradman's average of 98.22. 

Rohit also has 1,298 runs in 18 innings in Tests at home, which includes six centuries and five half-centuries. In the process, Rohit also became the fourth batsman to hit a double hundred both in Test and ODI cricket, emulating Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Chris Gayle.

Shastri then went on to add how it's not only about individual performances, but everyone playing together as a team and contributing.

"This is a team effort. You have 5-6 players who have done well. And that is how it should be. Till it's going well, enjoy."