“When you have a boy like [Jaiswal] “In your squad, in your team, you don’t want to disrupt their mindset too much,” Rohit said. “Let him be as free as possible and don’t overload him with too many thoughts about his batting. He understands his batting more than any of us, you know?
“Every place here has different challenges. So, it’s just about adapting to those challenges, playing different pitches. The bowlers are the same.
“So, it’s just a matter of understanding what they normally do and what their plans are against certain hitters when we come out to bat. And then just going out and doing your thing.
“Talking about Gill, I mean, look, he’s quality, we all know that. It’s just about backing that quality and making sure, you know, that we give him clear messages and not, again, like Jaiswal, we don’t. I want to complicate too many things with him.
“So he knows how to score big runs. So you just have to make sure that when you get those 30, 40, you try to get a big run. Because getting here is the hardest part. And when you get there, that’s when you can’t stop miss that opportunity to score such big runs.
There were some sharp shots, including a couple that had the crowd of about 200 enraptured. They had called for the pull and got one off the front foot just as their session was ending. Rohit didn’t interact with them while batting, but once he removed his pads, he came over to say a playful word or two.
India were able to practice on significantly faster pitches in the nets on Christmas Eve, pitches that could more closely resemble the one in the match. Rohit took a look at him on Sunday when he had some grass. Curator Matt Page said there wouldn’t be excessive movement of the seams, but it would provide an exciting contest.
“In the previous two or three Test matches, the wicket didn’t have that much grass,” Rohit said. “It was dry. But this certainly doesn’t look like a dry wicket to me.”
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy series is tied 1-1 with two Tests remaining and those results will also have an implication on both teams’ hopes of reaching the World Test Championship final in June. Australia or India, if they can win in Melbourne and Sydney, will qualify for that match regardless of other results.
