IND v BAN: Pressure off batters as India captain Rohit Sharma aims to build team around bowling

India has enjoyed being a batting-loving country, but with time, the bowlers have taken the onus and garnered much-needed attention with their sublime outings. Captain Rohit Sharma, who leads perhaps the set of best Test bowlers ever assembled in the country, details how he plans to build a team around bowling. Rohit praised his bowlers for delivering in the first Test against Bangladesh, which India won by 280 runs on Sunday (Sep 22).

Though Ravichandran Ashwin, Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill made headlines for their respective Test tons in the Chennai Test, more so for Pant, who scored a Test century on his return to playing his favourite format, the bowlers still hogged all the limelight, with all-rounder Ashwin returning with six wickets in the second innings.

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However, the pacers made the right noises in the first innings, with ace seamer Jasprit Bumrah picking up four wickets and Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj returning with two wickets each.

"No matter what the conditions are, whether we play in India, whether we play outside, we want to build the team around [bowling]," Rohit said after India’s win in the Chennai Test.

"Whatever the condition has to offer, we got to be ready for it. In the last few years, wherever we have played, we have managed to have that in our armoury, whether it is seam bowling options or spin bowling options. You have to give credit to the guys, whenever there is a responsibility, they never shy away from it, and they want to put their hand up and get the job done for the team,” he added.

Bowling depth pleases Rohit

With Team India scheduled to play nine more Tests till January next year, with the next being the second one of this series against Bangladesh in Kanpur (from Sep 27 onwards), the selectors, captain, and coach have plenty of options to pick and choose from, considering the workload management.

Though the latest reports suggested that premier fast bowler Mohammed Shami is saved for five Tests Down Under starting November 22, Team India can bank on the newcomers in Akash Deep and uncapped Yash Dayal, retained for the 2nd Test, to play handy roles at some stage during the home season.

Not only in the pace department but even in the spin, India has options like Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav to choose from.

Considering that India next faces New Zealand for three Tests, all these players are expected to make it to the playing XI in some games.

(With inputs from agencies)