When Rohit said ‘Anna’ it is a big honour to play Test cricket to MSK Prasad

Hyderabad: As India recorded an emphatic victory against England in the fourth Test at the Oval, far away in Hyderabad, MSK Prasad was quietly celebrating the win because Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah were one of the architects of the historic win.

It was during his tenure as chairman of the national selection committee that he and his fellow selectors decided to make Rohit open the innings in Test cricket and pave the way for Bumrah to play the red-ball cricket. With both Rohit and Bumrah making massive statements with their match-winning performances, Prasad feels elated and satisfied.

Dwelling on the evolution of Rohit as an opening batsman in Test cricket, Prasad said he (Rohit) was one of the accomplished batsmen whose talent was wasted for Test cricket. That Rohit could convince the selectors that he could play a role as opener in Test cricket came in the 2019 World Cup.

“He scored five centuries as an opener in the one-day World Cup in 2019 and where he took his game to another level. That is where we thought if somebody can get five centuries in the World Cup that too in England, can definitely get runs in Test cricket. Since there was no place in the middle-order with (Cheteshwar) Pujara, Virat (Kohli), (Ajinkya) Rahane and (G Hanuma) Vihari already there, we thought Rohit could rightly fit into the opening slot,’’ said Prasad.

Prasad also added that the reason to bring back Rohit into the Test squad was because  of the inconsistency in the top order. “So the idea of Rohit to play as opener was mooted after the World Cup. We asked him whether he was willing to open the innings in Test cricket. He immediately said `Anna’ it is a big honour.  That is how we started against South Africa in the home series. Although he failed in the Board President’s XI match at Visakhapatnam, we gave an opportunity in the Test series. He straightaway cemented his place with a century and since then he never looked back. He grew in confidence.

“In fact when he was selected as an opener, a few of them questioned us on whether he can play the moving ball. He silenced all his critics. We always felt he had the skills and temperament to excel as Test opener. He is willing to work hard in the nets unlike what people think of him. He works on his technique and has ample time while playing on the front or back foot. There is a class in his batting.’’

Prasad said Bumrah was always labelled as a white-ball cricketer. “But we somehow thought that this guy was capable of giving results with the red ball. We had asked him to take a break during one of the one-day series and come back to Ranji Trophy. All the selectors had a look at the match against Jharkhand and we got convinced that he would be successful in Test cricket as he had the pace and swing.

“I remember the six-wicket haul. We used to have discussions with the team management (Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri) and sometimes Rahul (Dravid) would join in. These solid discussions resulted in bringing Bumrah to the Test fold.  We took him to South Africa in 2018. The rest is history as they say. He justified his place and bowled himself to become one of the top pace bowlers of the world.’’