India are unfazed by the recent form of their senior spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, their captain Rohit Sharma has said. On a slow, dry Pune pitch, India's spin trio, which included Washington Sundar, was outbowled by New Zealand's as India suffered their first Test series defeat at home since 2012.
"I mean, see look, there is too much expectation on those two guys," Rohit said of Ashwin and Jadeja. "Every game they play, they are expected to take wickets, they are expected to run through the team, and they are expected to win Test matches for us. I don't think that's fair, it's the responsibility of all of us to make sure that we get Test match wins, not just the two guys."
After having conceded 94 runs in 16 overs for just one wicket in the second innings in Bengaluru - his worst figures, in terms of economy rate, in a Test innings where he has bowled at least ten overs - Ashwin went at almost four runs an over in the third innings in Pune. He had started well in the second Test by turning his fifth ball and having Tom Latham lbw for 15 in the eighth over. However, when the New Zealand batters brought out a variety of sweeps, Ashwin struggled to provide India with the control that he is usually known for, especially in these conditions.
Jadeja also struggled to counter New Zealand's aggressive approach. Despite India posting a short third and deep point, Devon Conway, for instance, kept sweeping and reverse-sweeping with attacking enterprise. Such shots not only messed with the lines and lengths of the senior spinners but also the fields that Rohit had set.
At various stages, the India captain was forced into having extra protection on the boundary. Jadeja ended up with just three wickets in 37.4 overs across both innings - two fewer than Ashwin's match haul of five wickets. In contrast, Mitchell Santner, the New Zealand left-arm fingerspinner, came away with 13 for 157, the third-best figures by any visiting bowler in India.
Rohit refused to read too much into these numbers and said it was natural for even Ashwin and Jadeja to have off days.
"Of course, by their standards, they know where they stand and what they haven't been able to do or what they haven't done really well," Rohit said. "But again, both of them have played so much cricket here and have such huge contributions to our success of having that home streak of 18 series [wins]. These two have played a major role in that. A couple of series, I am not going to look into 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 this is the opportunity for me to take wickets and run through the opposition. That's not going to happen every time. So you got to be ready with the other guys also to step in."
Rohit was also against putting too much pressure on Ashwin and Jadeja and called for the responsibility to be shared among the other spinners.
"Like we keep talking about with the batters it is not the responsibility of a few individuals, it is the collective batting unit that needs to come together," Rohit said. "So it's the same with the bowling unit as well. If Ash doesn't do well, it's Jadeja who needs to come to the party or Washy [Washington Sundar] or Kuldeep [Yadav] or Axar [Patel], those guys."
Washington did step up in the first innings in Pune, marking a serendipitous return to Test cricket after three-and-a-half years with career-best figures of 7 for 59. He took four more wickets in the third innings, which perhaps influenced his selection for the upcoming Test series in Australia.
"Washy had a great game, I am really proud of that," Rohit said. "He is proud of that and we are happy with his performance. He bowled so well."