Rohit lavishes praise on Ashwin and Jadeja

NAGPUR: India skipper Rohit Sharma gave a huge compliment to India’s spin-bowling pair of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, saying that leading them was similar to captaining Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc in Australia.

Rohit also said that the Indian pair always aims to “reach the next level” while playing Tests.

“He (Ashwin) looks a different bowler. I wouldn’t say an improved bowler as he was always a good bowler but he looks a different bowler every time he plays Test cricket. That’s what good cricketers do. They try and up their game and try to reach the next level,” said Rohit.

Ashwin, who reached a personal milestone of 450 wickets in Test cricket, also picked up his 31st five-for and a match haul of eight wickets.

Asked about the feeling of captaining a side that has Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar Patel in its ranks, Rohit replied, “It’s like captaining (Pat) Cummins, (Josh) Hazlewood and (Mitchell) Starc in Australia. Pretty similar. When you have the quality of Axar, Jadeja, and Ash, having played in India for so many years, playing on pitches like these, it’s always a blessing.”

Rohit, who scored a century and laid the platform for a 400-run total, said pitch conditions are the same for everyone but what makes the three India spinners special is their ability to extract the maximum out of the wicket.

“Conditions are there for everyone but what they extract from those conditions make them really, really special. They have played on these pitches a lot and they know which areas to hit, how to keep applying that pressure.”

Jadeja fined for applying cream

India’s hero in the opening Test victory over Australia here, Ravindra Jadeja was on Saturday fined 25 per cent of his match fee for applying cream on the swollen index finger of his bowling hand without taking permission from the on-field umpires on the first day of the match.

Jadeja, who returned figures of 7/81 and contributed 70 runs in the match that India won by an innings and 132 runs, was seen in a video receiving something from pace bowler Mohammed Siraj and rubbing it on his left index finger.

Jadeja action was deemed to have breached “Article 2.20 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to displaying conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game”.

“India spin bowler Ravindra Jadeja has been fined 25 per cent of his match fee for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during the first Test against Australia in Nagpur on Thursday,” the ICC said in a statement.

Rohit said pitch conditions are the same for everyone but what makes the three India spinners special is their ability to extract the maximum out of the wicket