The most controversial topic after Day 2 of the ongoing first Test between India and Sri Lanka was why did Rohit Sharma declare when Ravindra Jadeja was batting on 175 and he was just 25 runs away from making his double century.
We have seen this a lot of times previously – the most famous instant being Rahul Dravid who declared when Sachin Tendulkar was batting at 190 and was just 10 runs away from making his double century. In decisions like this, usually, the captains get criticised the fans very much. Most of them assume that they did not want the player to achieve the landmark but Ravindra Jadeja has now confirmed the real reason behind this.
Jadeja said that he himself was asking Rohit to declare because the pitch was turning tricky and it would be nice if they could test the Sri Lankan batters immediately.
“Yeah there was a message coming from inside and I was also telling them. When I was batting, balls had started taking spin and there was variable bounce. So I told them that the wicket is playing tricks and we can put them [Sri Lanka] into bat,” Ravindra Jadeja said in the press conference after Day 2’s stumps.
“They were on the field for almost two days and were naturally tired. So it wouldn’t have been easy for them to come out and start playing shots and stay further on the field. So our plan was to score quickly and declare as soon as possible,” he added.
Well, it worked fine for the Indians as they picked up 4 quick Sri Lankan wickets within the same day and now have a big advantage going into Day 3’s action. So it ended up being the right decision.
Ravindra Jadeja reveals the real reason why Rohit Sharma declared today
