India skipper Rohit Sharma lavished praise on former captain Virat Kohli's leading ability and expressed his learnings after India beat Australia in a one-sided Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India thrashed Australia by an innings and 132 runs in the 1st Test on Saturday.
In the post-match presentation, Rohit said he had picked up a few cues about how to work with spinners when Kohli was a captain.
"When Virat was captaining, I noticed one thing, no matter if we got a wicket or not, the pressure had to be there so that the opposition made a mistake.
"That's what I learnt when Virat was captaining and these guys were bowling. That's what I try to do now. Apply pressure and don't expect wickets every ball; it's not going to happen like that but if it happens, nothing like it. We've got to be at it, and keep putting the ball in the right areas and let the pitch help you."
Rohit also complimented the spin-bowling pair of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, saying that leading them was similar to captaining Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc in Australia.
Ashwin and Jadeja played a crucial role in collapsing the batting order of the Kangaroos. Rohit said that the pair always aim to "reach the next level" while paying Tests.
"He (Ashwin) looks like a different bowler. I wouldn't say an improved bowler as he was always a good bowler but he looks like a different bowler every time he plays Test cricket. That's what good cricketers do.
They try and up their game and try to reach the next level," said Rohit.
Rohit said what makes the three India spinners special is their ability to extract the maximum out of the wicket.
"Conditions are there for everyone but what they extract from those conditions makes them really, really special. They have played on these pitches a lot and they know which areas to hit, and how to keep applying that pressure."
How was Ashwin's performance different from the Aussies?
Ashwin finished with figures of 8/79 from 27.5 overs sent down in two innings. On the other hand, the Australian off-spin duo of Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy finished with one wicket and 7 wickets, respectively.
"Ashwin has played so much cricket in India and is closing in on playing 100 Tests (89). I am pretty sure he has played most of those Tests in India and not to forget the first-class games as well before he made his debut," Rohit explained.
"A lot of cricket and overs have gone into skills and being able to do what he is doing now; to be able to extract something out of pitch, it is not easy, he added.
India's dominance was on full display as they scalped 10 Australian wickets within a session, and that goes a long way in saying how poor Australia were in this Test. The caravan now moves to Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, where the second Test match is set to be played, starting on February 17.
