From Mumbai Indians to India Test team call-up: Rohit Sharma lauds Jasprit Bumrah

Dharamshala: Jasprit Bumrah's selection in the South Africa-bound Test squad is a lesson for all youngsters that hardwork always pays off, said India's stand-in limited overs skipper Rohit Sharma.

A limited overs regular, Bumrah earned his maiden call-up in the Indian Test team as the fifth specialist pacer, who is expected to add variety with his ability to bowl yorkers.

"It is a great boost for him (Burmrah) to be a part of the Test team. He is looking forward to it. For a while, he was wanting to be the part of the Test team. It is all the reward for what he has done in the ODI format and the T20 format," Rohit said when asked to comment about his IPL teammate.

"And over the last year or so, how he has improved himself, on his bowling and fitness as well. It is a lesson for many cricketers that if you put in the hard yards, you will get rewarded. And Bumrah has been rewarded for the things he has done in the past few years," Rohit was effusive in his praise.

Bumrah is considered as one of the most revered death bowlers in the world currently and his skipper feels it is his ability to come up with new strategies in difficult situation that makes him so successful.

"He has played with me for MI and I have only seen him grow every game. Every series that he has played he has come up new strategies, new plans. It is good to see he has matured as bowler now," Rohit said.

"He understands what he needs to do and what team expects out of him. He is a very focussed guy, very disciplined in terms of his work ethics. This is what is giving him the results on the field."

"He had a good month and a half time off and he went to NCA, worked on his body again and rejuvenated, he looks a lot fresher now. Hopefully, he can do the job for us what he has been doing in the past few months or so."

In absence of regular captain Virat Kohli, Rohit has his job cut out -- to instill confidence in the younger members of the side. "It is important to give these guys fair amount of games before they prove themselves. It is important they get enough games and gain confidence," said Rohit.

"There are guys like Shreyas (Iyer), Manish (Pandey), Kedar (Jadhav) and (senior pro) like Dinesh, who haven't got enough games on the trot. "As a part of the team management, we want to make sure that they get 'N' (certain) number of games continuously and and then it is up to them what they do with that opportunity," he spoke like an elder statesman of the team.

"They completely understand that they need to perform as there is a lot of competition in the middle-order. In fact everywhere, and they have to grab the opportunity and make it to the 11. We don't want to put any pressure and make sure that they don't carry any burden when they walk out to the field," he added.

He has successfully led Mumbai Indians to a hat-trick of IPL titles and no wonder Rohit Sharma firmly insists that "basics of captaincy remain same" when one shifts from franchise to international cricket. Rohit has led Mumbai Indians to IPL triumph in 2013, 2015 and 2017 and for the first time would be leading the national team in the upcoming limited overs series against Sri Lanka.

Asked how different it will be from leading Mumbai Indians, Rohit said:"It will be completely a different ball game all together but the process and basics of captaincy will remain the same." "We have a different set of players than the IPL team but having played with these guys for some time now, I do understand their strengths and weaknesses. It will be all about going there and executing and making everyone comfortable," Rohit added.

By his own admission, Rohit won't change the template of his captaincy which has got him success over the years in IPL. "I don't need to change anything. I just need to carry from where we left as a team and yes IPL and international cricket is completely different --- the pressure and mindset of the players is absolutely different. I myself will not change much. I will try to be at the present and make those changes when necessary," the stand-in captain said.

Rohit has made a successful return to Test cricket with a century in Nagpur in the second Test and twin 50's in the final Test at the Feroz Shah Kotla. "It was important to be ready for an opportunity because in the last few years, the combinations that we were playing with allowed the captain to go with five bowlers at times.

"So it was important to be ready and I wanted to prepare myself in a manner that I can get a game anytime. I am happy the way the Test went in Nagpur. I want to continue and don’t want to put pressure on myself and enjoy the game."

The stylish Mumbaikar said he wants to stay in the present and focus on the "little things", which will eventually make a big difference. "I believe every new series is different and it will bring different challenges and we got to do what we do as a team. We need to concentrate on basic and little things which eventually add up to bigger things. The idea will be the same. I have seen if we do that we get the result," he said.

The new skipper is also keen to find out how some of the younger members wriggle out of difficult situations.

"We will be put to different situations and it will be important how we react to those. In Sri Lanka, we were put under pressure in few situations and we came out it really well, we showed a lot of character," he said.

"Here at times, we will be put under pressure and we have guys to stand up and respond to those situation. We are not thinking that we have beat them in the last series, we have to focus from first ball to the last," he added.