Rohit Sharma: Creating bench strength is more important than winning games

Rohit Sharma believes that a bigger challenge than winning games is to create bench strength and he has taken it upon himself to ensure that he leaves Indian cricket in good hands looking at the future Rohit started his journey as Test captain with an emphatic innings and 222 runs victory over Sri Lanka but as Indian cricket goes through a transition phase his focus on those who are not playing is the same as on playing XIIf you create that bench strength and you start thinking from now Indian cricket will be in good hands This is one of my challenges and one of my responsibilities I have to take it upon me to create that bench strength keeping in mind a lot of things Rohit said at the end of the Test match With team slowly moving away from Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinlya Rahane it is imperative that the younger crop gets confidenceIts going to be my biggest challenge more than winning games and all of that For me what is important is how I approach those guys who are sitting outside and how I can get them in a good mindset When they get an opportunity they should be very clear as to what they want to go out there and achieve That will impact all our performances whether we win or lose games The skipper said that one cant just expect players to turn up and win gamesYou cant just say you have to win games While winning games there are a lot of things you need to do create bench strength give clarity to people create a good environment so that its a nice and happy atmosphere where people want to go out there and do their jobThey should not feel too much pressure Of course when you are playing international cricket pressure is there But that external pressure shouldnt be there internal pressure is fine The onus is on team management to create that atmosphere We will try and back them as much as possible so that at the end of the day when they come back home they feel I got my opportunity if I didnt do well Im still happy as long as the role was given to me there was clarity As long as that procedure is put in place we will hold ourselves in good shapeJadeja is openminded and want to use him more as batterRavindra Jadejas openminded approach to suggestions is any captains delight and no wonder Rohit wants to use his abilities as a batter more looking at allrounders hunger for success Jadeja 175 and match haul of 987 who became the third Indian cricketer after Vinoo Mankad and Polly Umrigar to score 150plus in an innings and also take fivefor while bowling has been Indias first choice all format and all condition spinner for some timeAs a captain I want to use Jadeja a lot more with the bat We all know his bowling Everyone knows about his fielding I hope I get the opportunity to use his batting more in the future because we have got a lot of young players who we also need to see Rohit said about his lethal weapon who was instrumental in winning the opening Test by an innings and 222 runs Any team leader likes teammates who takes extra initiative when asked for and for Rohit Jadeja is one such playerHunger is something that drives athletes to move forward I see that clearly in Jadeja Hes hungry for success hes hungry to get runs and do well for the team When I talk to him about certain things he is very openminded He wants to take the responsibility he wants to take the challenge the skipper said and then supplemented his comments with an exampleHis batting has improved by leaps and bounds as skipper Rohit sent him to bat at No 5 in T20 Internationals against Sri Lanka recently The example was there in the T20 series against Sri Lanka I just casually asked him if we would want to bat up the order and he was open for it This is why we asked him to go up in the first T20When it comes to allrounders in wold cricket currently Jadeja is right up there according to Rohit Jadeja seems to be right up there in my mind at least to get the best out of him He brings so much balance to the team as well he said Look at the performances To score 175 not out and take nine wickets in the game hes just upping his game every time we see him In the past as well when we played in India his contribution with the bat lower down the order and picking those crucial wickets the skipper said waxing eloquent about his No 1 allrounders current formHanuma Vihari is No 3 as of now but cant say about futureThe skipper said that at this juncture he cant say whether Hanuma Vihari is a longterm number three replacing Cheteshwar Pujara who held that spot for a decade but in recent future he would play in that slot We are not so certain about anything at the moment We are understanding what is right at this particular time and moving forward In time to come you will realise who is the No 3 player for usAt the moment it is Vihari and he did pretty well He will continue to do that in the next Test as well I honestly cant tell you about the future because the future is very uncertain We need to live in the present and focus on what lies ahead in the next game Rohit said Its important to do that give these guys confidence and we will take it from there We are very open minded as a team management so whatever suits the best for the team we will try and take that callThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever