“He has come through the ranks and succeeded, that’s why he’s playing for India” – Rohit Sharma on Yashasvi Jaiswal ahead of New Zealand Tests

Indian captain Rohit Sharma lauded Yashasvi Jaiswal before the opening Test match against New Zealand. Jaiswal worked hard to make ends meet but never gave up his dream of representing India at the top level.

The left-hander top-scored in the two-match Test series against Bangladesh with 189 runs in four innings at an average of 47.25. He was also awarded Player of the Match in the second Test at Kanpur for scoring twin fifties.

Additionally, Jaiswal was on song throughout the five-match Test series against England earlier in the year. The southpaw scored 712 runs in five matches at an outstanding average of 89 and an impressive strike rate of 79.91. Thus, he was awarded Player of the Series as India won the series by 4-1.

“He’s a real talent. He has got the game to play in all sorts of conditions. He’s still new so it’s hard to judge. But he’s got all the ingredients. He has come through the ranks and has succeeded. That’s why he’s playing for India,” Rohit Sharma said during the pre-match press conference.

Meanwhile, India was able to win the Kanpur Test despite more than two days getting washed out due to rain. It has been raining in Bengaluru for the last two days and Rohit said they will assess the situation before deciding their game plan.

“We’ll see how the days pan out. Then we will take a call. In Kanpur, we didn’t get the game on two days and then decided to go for the win. I don’t know what it is going to be here. We’ll see what lies ahead of us and then take a call. We want to try and win games,” Rohit added.

On the other hand, Rohit also shed light on India’s bowling combination. The Indian skipper revealed they would take a call on match day’s morning after looking at the pitch.

“It all depends on the conditions. Today it has been raining. The pitch is under covers. We will take a call tomorrow morning on 3 pacers or 2 pacers and our best playing XI. We are keeping our options open,” Rohit said.

India will take on New Zealand in the opening Test at Bengaluru from October 16 onwards.