Unbeatable at home? Skipper Rohit Sharma thinks otherwise

HYDERABAD, January 24

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India have not lost a Test series at home since 2012-13 but captain Rohit Sharma does not want his teammates to start believing they are unbeatable in their own conditions.

Since Alastair Cook led a touring England to a 2-1 series victory more than a decade ago, India have gone on to win 16 consecutive Test series at home.

By no means whatever records we have in the past decade or so gives us the guarantee that we are going to win the series. I won’t say we are not beatable, we are. We want to think that if we don’t step up or don’t show up well, we are going to find ourselves in trouble. Rohit Sharma, India captain

Rohit’s team would begin as favourites in the five-Test series against Ben Stokes’s England but the home captain looked determined to prevent any complacency from creeping into their approach.

“No, no, not at all. At the end of the day, it’s sport,” Rohit said dismissing the suggestion in his pre-match press conference.

“By no means whatever records we have in the past decade or so gives us the guarantee that we are going to win the series. I won’t say we are not beatable, we are. We want to think that if we don’t step up or don’t show up well, we are going to find ourselves in trouble. We don’t want to be doing that,” he added.

Especially against an England team, who are out to redefine how Test cricket is played with an ultra-aggressive ‘Bazball’ approach championed by captain Stokes and coach Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum.

“England obviously is a very good team, they play their Test cricket really well and obviously the last team to beat us here in our conditions,” Rohit said. “For us it will be important that we stick to our strength and do the things that we know how to do.” — Reuters