India captain Rohit Sharma said that the players have worked hard and they are giving it their all to try to register a win in the first-ever Test series on South African soil as well. Several players in the Indian Test team came close to glory in the 2023 World Cup. While Rohit said that nothing can replace the joy of a World Cup win, he also feels the team deserves to win something special, like the Test series against South Africa in their den as well.

Speaking to the reporters on the eve of the first Test against South Africa, Rohit Sharma said: “We have been coming here from so many years but haven’t won the series here. It will be a big thing if we win the series here. Now I don’t know whether if we win it could heal the World Cup loss. World Cup is World Cup. But this in itself is a massive series with a lot of history and if we achieve this then it will be really nice for the guys. Itna mehnat kiya hai, kuch to chahiye yaar hum log ko (We have worked so hard, we want to win something big).”

Rohit Sharma also opined on the void created by Mohammed Shami’s absence and he feels it is a tough decision to select one pace bowler between Prasidh Krishna and Mukesh Kumar for the match.

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He added: “Both are different bowlers. Prasidh is a hit-the-deck bowler and can extract a lot from the pitch. Mukesh has been impressive in the past 6-8 months. We know what to expect from Siraj and Bumrah. It is important to see what kind of a bowler we need. We have decided 75 percent on that. We will decide in our meeting in the evening.”

However, Rohit Sharma also congratulated the Indian Women’s Cricket Team on beating Australia and England in the back-to-back Tests that they played recently in Mumbai as well. He also credited the team for their passion to play Test cricket and was hopeful that they would play a lot more Tests going forward.

“It is pretty heartening to see how they are playing Test cricket and good to see them getting so involved in Test cricket. It is not just about white-ball cricket. Test cricket, I saw the passion in their face and their body language after the win. We were watching them in the dressing room here.” Rohit Sharma concluded. “It is good to see that people want to play Test cricket. Whether it’s men’s cricket or women’s cricket. Getting the result at the end of the day was very pleasing. I hope they grow from strength to strength and they get to play a lot of Test cricket and that is what challenges you. I am pretty sure you will get to see more and more Test cricket played by the women’s team as well.”

The first of the two-match Test series between India and South Africa will take place at Centurion from Tuesday, December 26.