Team India skipper Rohit Sharma revealed why they didn’t play first-class matches before the Test series against South Africa. India lost the first of the two-match Test series by an innings and 32 runs at the SuperSport Park in Centurion.
The loss has prompted a discussion over the lack of practice before the tour. Former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar also criticised India for not playing any first-class matches before the series. However, Rohit Sharma has expressed that the nature of pitches during the first-class matches is very different from what they get during the actual series. The Indian skipper said,
“We have been playing practice matches for the last five years.”
“We have even tried first-class matches, but we don’t get these kind of wickets in practice matches. We should prepare on our own, and make the pitch we want. When we last went to Australia, when we came to South Africa in 2018, the ball didn’t bounce above the knee on those pitches. In the Test, it flies above the head,” he added.
We decided we would prepare in our way: Rohit Sharma
The Indian skipper Rohit Sharma further expressed that the team decided to prepare their pitches for practice. India preferred an intra-squad game over a proper first-class before the SA series. Rohit added that the quality of pitches as well as the bowlers differ from the actual series during practice first-class games. He said,
“Keeping these things in mind, we decided we would prepare in our way. If you get the conditions in practice matches that you get in [Test] matches, then it is a different matter. But we have seen on the last three tours that we don’t get those conditions in practice matches. Even the bowlers bowl 120-125kph. We have experienced that in the last two or three practice matches that we have played on away tours.”
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