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'Every game they play, they are expected to take wickets, run through the (opposition) team and win Test matches for us. I don't think that is fair'
India captain Rohit Sharma on Saturday defended the spin pair of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, whose lack of exploits on a spin-friendly wicket had a role to play in the team's first Test series loss at home in 12 years.
While India were completely outplayed on a spin-friendly MCA Stadium track, the loss to New Zealand in the game was underlined by the failure of their ace spinners.
"They know (about) that. There's too much expectation on those two guys," Rohit said, when asked about the lack of control from the Indian spinners during the press conference after India's 113-run loss.
"Every game they play, they are expected to take wickets, run through the (opposition) team and win Test matches for us. I don't think that is fair," he said.
India's proud run of 18 consecutive series wins at home since losing to England in 2012-13 ended on Saturday.
The dream run began with the pair of Ashwin, who made his debut in November 2011, and Jadeja, who played his first Test in December 2012, coming together to form a lethal spin combination.
Playing together at home, Ashwin has taken 326 wickets in 55 Tests, while Jadeja has bagged 225 in 47 matches.
Rohit said winning Tests is a collective responsibility.
"It's the responsibility of all of us to make sure that we get the Test wins, not just the two guys. Of course, by their standards, they know where they stand and what they haven't been able to do or what they have done really well," he said.
"Both of them have played so much cricket here and have (made) such huge contributions to our success, of having that home streak of 18 series wins, these two have played a major role in that."
"I'm not going to look into (it) too much, especially with those two guys. They know exactly what happens and sometimes they are allowed to have some bad games here and there and not go by that expectation that 'okay, this is the opportunity for me to take wickets and run through the opposition'. That's not going to happen every time," Rohit said.
"You're talking about someone who's taking 500 (plus) wickets and 300 (plus) wickets respectively. They know exactly how they've got those wickets and how they have every time come out and won Test matches for us," he added.
Rohit said that while he was proud of the way Washington Sundar bowled, taking 11 wickets in his first Test in three years, India will certainly analyse its bowling.
"Washy had a great game. I'm really proud of that. He's proud of that and we are happy with his performance. He bowled so well," Rohit said.
"(Mitchell) Santner kept the ball on the stumps and that is where the challenge happens. When you pitch it on the stumps, you don't know which one is going away, which one is keeping straight."
"That is something that we had to exploit a lot more as a bowling unit... to try and make them play as many as possible and pitch it more on the stumps. Those are the things that we will sit and discuss and we'll go through it and see where they are at with that," he said.
Rohit said the Indian teams had set high standards over the years, adding that it was the first time in several years that the side had under-performed.
"We have had (only) two games where we have had collapses. But are you even thinking (about) so many matches that we have won in India or not?" he asked.
"The batters have batted on challenging wickets and won matches. This is the first time we have not done well on such wickets and have not batted well. I think it is allowed, once in 12 years. If the collapses were happening over the last 12 years, we won't have won."
"We have set the expectations high — we have made it a habit for you, you are not at fault here — we have played such good cricket that the expectations have gone one level up," he continued.
"The expectations are that the Indian team cannot do anything wrong in India, but that is wrong. The opposition is also watching us and seeing what is it that we are doing to win so many matches. They come prepared too, so sometimes the margin is too less," he added.