India's 2-0 whitewash at home against Bangladesh might have been an expected outcome, but the manner in which they registered the victory was something which will be etched in the fabric of Indian cricket for an everlasting duration. If one thought the 280-run victory in the first Test in Chennai was impressive, they were in for a pleasant surprise come the second Test in Kanpur.
Not only did India manage to clinch victory, they achieved the win in merely two-and-a-half-days, making the triumph all the more grand. Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma, in a recent discussion, credited the mindset which head coach, Gautam Gambhir, and the staff instilled in the player, for showing urgency in their endeavour to produce a result.
"The bowlers came to the party first. They got the wickets that we needed, and then when we came inside, we had to take a little bit of risk to get a result. I know the result could have gone either way, but I was okay with it. So was the coach [Gautam Gambhir] and the other players as well because you have to be brave enough to take those decisions and go and play that way. When things fall in place, everything looks good. And that is where it can change quickly, when things don't fall in place. Everybody would've started criticising the decision that we took and all of that, but what matters is what we think inside this changing room. And that is what mattered. And that is what we went with in this game," Rohit was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
Rohit, who has a win percentage of 66.67% in Tests as skipper up until now, certainly didn't want his side's efforts to slip by unseen. "It was a clear plan that we want the result, how we can get the result. Everybody started finding answers for that. I think it was an exceptional series. It may go unnoticed," he mentioned.
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Rohit credits India's fielding for success
Rohit, who hung on to a one-handed blinder at midoff to get rid of Litton Das at the Green Park in Bangladesh's first innings, praised the exceptional effort of the players, especially those in the slip cordon for their turbocharged reflexes. He appreciated the work being done behind the scenes by fielding coach, T. Dilip.
"You don't often see the ball carrying through the slips in India. But the guys who were standing behind were so sharp and to take those catches, it may look easy on television, but it is not, trust me, because they are standing way ahead than they normally do. So, all those catches that come their way, they are very hard to take those catches. The reaction time is very less, and I have seen it. Everyone puts a lot of effort in getting those things right. Dilip [T. Dilip] obviously is helping the players. Some crucial catches as well, which actually turned the game around," added Rohit.
Out of the 24 chances which came the hosts' way, they hung onto 23 of them. This statistic, in itself, is a testament to the fact of the sharp increase in the fielding standards of the Indian team.
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