Indian Test opener Rohit Sharma scored a majestic Test century during India’s second innings (batting) at The Oval, London. Owing to his hundred, India was put on the driver’s seat and dictated the outcome of the match henceforth. Adjudged player of the match, Rohit said that the second innings was important for the team and he was glad that his hundred could put the team in a winning position.

“I wanted to be on the field as much as I could. That hundred was special. We know how important was the second innings. Virat just mentioned the effort from the batsmen, and as a unit, it was really important. It’s my first overseas hundred. Really glad that I could get the team into an important position,” Rohit Sharma said during the post-match presentation.

“The three-figure mark wasn’t in my mind, we knew the pressure on the batting unit so we kept our heads down and batted the situation. Once we got the lead, we just wanted to put pressure on the bowlers. I try to contribute for the team, it’s important for me,” the right-handed batsman said.

Talking about his batting performance, the Mumbai-based batsmen said that he knows the importance of opening the innings and he is glad that he could make it count. He further added “it’s always important to embrace the challenge, it’s not going to be easy.”

Meanwhile, Joe Root, the English captain, said that it was frustrating to lose.

“It’s frustrating, though we’ll get something from the game today, we had an opportunity of winning a Test match. The opening partnership was outstanding, credit to India, they got the ball to reverse,” Root said.

“I thought Bumrah’s spell was the real turning point of the game. From our side, we’ll have to look at other areas where we missed opportunities, maybe we should have made more of an advantage with the first-innings lead and should have taken the chances that were offered,” the English captain added.