After a surprising series defeat by New Zealand, India’s skipper Rohit Sharma said undue expectation was being put on frontline spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, as he called for more collective bowling efforts to win test matches.
Rohit’s side lost the opening match in Bengaluru by eight wickets and fell to a 113-run defeat in Pune on Saturday as the Black Caps celebrated their maiden test series win in India.
Ashwin and Jadeja had played key roles in helping India win 18 successive home series since 2012 but could not prevent the tourists from snapping that record, claiming only eight wickets together in the second game where the pitched assisted spin.
“There’s too much expectation on those two guys. Every game they play, they are expected to take wickets, they are expected to run through the team and they are expected to win tests,” Rohit told reporters.
“I don’t think that’s fair, it’s the responsibility of all of us to make sure we get test wins, not just the two guys.
“Of course, by their standards, they know where they stand and what they haven’t been able to do or what they haven’t done really well.”
Rohit said the duo were allowed to have bad games from time to time and he was not worried about their recent form.
“Both of them have played so much cricket here and have such huge contributions to our success of having that home streak of 18 series wins. These two have played a major role in that,” Rohit added.
“A couple of series, I’m not going to look into too much, especially with those two guys … Sometimes they’re allowed to have bad games here and there, and not go by that expectation that this is the opportunity to run through the opposition.
“That’s not going to happen every time. So you’ve got to be ready with the other guys to step in.”
The series finale takes place in Mumbai from Friday, before India head to Australia for a five-match series.
