Team India captain Rohit Sharma added that he hinted to Ishan Kishan about the team’s declaration plans because he wanted the Test debutant to get his first runs on the board. While responding to West Indies’ first-innings total of 150, India declared 421/5 on Day 3 of the Dominica Test against West Indies on Friday. Kishan, who came into bat at No. 7, faced 19 balls without scoring before getting off the mark in Test cricket on the 20th ball as well.
Speaking after India’s thumping win by an innings and 141 runs in the first Test, Rohit shared why he was waiting for Kishan to get his first run before declaring.
“I was just letting them [batters] know that we probably have an over or so and then we’re declaring. I just wanted Ishan to get off the mark, because he had probably played close to 15-20 balls without getting off the mark, so I wanted to tell him, get your first runs in Test cricket and then we have to declare,” he said. “I can understand, playing your first Test match, you have a lot of nerves going around, and I could see, he was sitting there in the dressing room, entire [second] day, wanting to go out to bat, so I know the feeling, but I was just letting him know that we probably have an over or two and then we’re going to declare.”
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While Ishan Kishan did not have much to do with the bat, he did well behind the stumps. He took two good catches as well. India’s other debutant of the match, Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed a terrific 171 off 387 balls and batted for 501 minutes as well.
“He’s got the talent. We knew about it. He’s shown us in the past couple of years that he’s ready for this big stage. Came and batted sensibly, showed a lot of patience, and the temperament was tested as well – at no stage [did it look] like he was panicking or going away from his plans, which was good to see,” Rohit Sharma said.
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“Both of these guys have been doing it for a while for us now. They know exactly what is expected out of them. There’s not much to tell them [about] what we need to do. It’s just about going to them and giving them that freedom to go and express, because that is when they’re doing their best for the side as well,” he concluded.
