India can win Tests on any pitch, including rank turners: Rohit Sharma

RAJKOT: Skipper Rohit Sharma stressed on the Indian team's ability to win games on any surface including rank turners, following its record 434-run win over England on a flat track here on Sunday.

India set a target of 557 runs for England on a placid pitch with more than four sessions left in the game. However, the visitors folded inside 40 overs for 122 to give India a 2-1 lead in the series.

“We have won a lot of matches on such wickets before. The turning tracks and on pitches where the ball turns remain our strength. It gives us balance,” Rohit told the media here.

“We have given results for many years and we will get results in the future as well. But we don't have control over certain things — we don't discuss whether we want rank turners or not. We come here (at the venues) two days before the match and how much can we do anyway in two days? “The curators decide and make the pitch. We have the strength to play on any wicket and win on it. When we won the Test in South Africa (at Cape Town), everyone knows what kind of wicket it was,” he said.

Rohit said the Indian team has found a way through all conditions witnessed in the first three Tests.

“(In) the last three Tests we played, there were different challenges. In the first Test (Hyderabad), the ball was spinning and the pitch was slow. In Vizag, it was (keeping) low. As the game progressed, the wicket became slower. Here, it played well for the first three days.

“Today, we saw that the ball was turning and it was low. This is (in) the nature (of pitches), we get pitches like these in India. But if we get rank turners, we will play on them as well,” Rohit added.

Rohit said Ravindra Jadeja, who scored a century (112) in the first innings and bowled a match-winning spell of 5/41, thrived in conditions that he understood well.

“We've seen him over the years, he understands the conditions really well. He knows exactly what his game is,” Rohit said.

“Here, he is no different. This is his hometown so more than anyone else, he knows these conditions better.

“If you see the past couple of years, he's actually come out and scored some crucial runs for us. Whether it's in India or outside India as well. He's batting really well and the confidence is there with the bat, which is why we thought of sending him up the order as well (in the first innings),” Rohit added.

The India skipper said Sarfaraz Khan has acquired enough experience in domestic cricket that the team management did not feel the need to have discussed any plans with him before he made his debut here. “I haven't seen Sarfaraz bat that much. But all the people I've heard from, the players who are from Mumbai, (that) he’s made runs in a lot of difficult situations for Mumbai,” Rohit said.

“He's hungry for runs and for the last 4-5 years, he's continuously made runs in domestic cricket, so (that means) he's doing something good,” Rohit said. “We didn't discuss any plans with him. Because I know that if you let him be, he'll do his your job, which I've heard from the players from Mumbai,” he added.

Rohit said England batters have played their strokes even off good balls over the last three Tests, which has forced the Indian bowlers to be very disciplined with their line and lengths.

“Ollie) Pope got that 190-odd (in series opener), he was very much in control and played shots off some really good balls,” Rohit said.

“When the batter is doing that, obviously the plan is very simple to keep it nice and tight. (It is important to) follow the plans that have been discussed. These guys have bowled a lot in these conditions, they exactly know how to keep coming back into the game,” he added.