India skipper Rohit Sharma felt that the clinical 2-0 win over Sri Lanka was a necessary balm to get over the pain of the series loss in South Africa in January.
“Having lost the series in South Africa, it was critical for us to make an impact and get those crucial [ICC] points. The long-term target is to reach the finals of the World Test Championship, but honestly, we cannot look that far ahead,” he said.
“We were missing two of our experienced batters [Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane]… [Hanuma] Vihari batting at a new position was a challenge and so was [Shreyas] Iyer batting at six. But he (Shreyas) showed a lot of maturity in the way he played on challenging wickets.
“We pretty much achieved everything we wanted to as a team… boxes got ticked and we are moving in the right direction.”
One of those boxes was probably his leadership. “I haven’t captained much in red-ball, except in Ranji Trophy. [So] it was a big thing to lead in the Tests. I got the support of the team and a few senior members who understand the game well.
“I have my reading of the game as well. But eventually you work on instinct and my captaincy philosophy is that.”
Rohit was lavish in his praise for player-of-the-match Shreyas Iyer, who scored two half-centuries in the Test, and Jasprit Bumrah, who finished with a match-haul of eight wickets.
“He grabbed his opportunities brilliantly,” Rohit said of Shreyas. “He came after a fine T20I series where he didn’t get out even a single time. And just carried that form.
“He knew that he was replacing someone like Rahane and Pujara. Those are big shoes. It is just the start for him. He has got everything required. Once he starts travelling, he will be prepared for that too.
“Bumrah’s performance was magnificent,” the skipper added. “To bowl like how he did in these kind of conditions showed his skill and ability. He’s never out of the game. Bumrah has not played a lot of red-ball cricket in India. This was his fourth Test match, and that’s not a lot. But with the workload in mind, we have to rotate.”
“He’s quite keen to make an impact in Test cricket and he wants to play a lot. In the coming years you’ll see Bumrah playing a lot of Tests in India, and abroad as well.”