“It did put me under pressure” – Rohit Sharma opens up on England’s Bazball approach in recent Test series

Indian captain Rohit Sharma admitted that England’s Bazball approach did put him under pressure in the recent five-match Test series. The visitors won the opening Test by 28 runs despite being under the pump as Ollie Pope played a magnum opus knock of 196 runs.

However, India was able to bounce back strongly as they won the remaining four Test matches to take the series 4-1. Rohit Sharma also led from the front as he scored 400 runs in five matches at an impressive average of 44.44.

India was able to win the crucial stages of the matches and the youngsters were also able to grab their chances. The likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan, Devdutt Padikkal, and Akash Deep all grabbed their opportunities with both hands.

“I’ve seen only a few players who have come and done that in India. Gilly (Gilchrist), Hayden in 2000 and then Kevin Pietersen in 2012. Not that people have not got 100s but the way they got that is what sometimes puts the captains under pressure. So, It ( Bazball) did put me under pressure a little bit, I won’t deny, but it was good to come out on top at the end of the Test series,” said Rohit on the Club Prairie Fire podcast.

Rohit admitted that England’s batters put them under a bit of pressure and also highlighted that the tourists’ were not reckless in their batting.

“I think it’s not about how they play but more about how they talk off the field, just to take that pressure off from each individual. But there was no smashing, it was reasonably played like Test cricket for most times in the series. But, yes, there were a couple of guys who did put us under pressure which was quite good to see,” said Rohit.

India was able to come up with a collective effort despite the absence of key players like Virat Kohli, Mohammad Shami, and KL Rahul.