India captain Rohit Sharma has credited his predecessor, Virat Kohli, for the success of the Test team in recent times and believes that the side hasn’t done “anything wrong in the last two-three years”. He’s looking forward to the challenges of Test captaincy and wants to pick up the threads from where Kohli left it.

“As a Test team at the moment, we stand in a very good position. If you look at the last five years of our Test cricket, the whole credit goes to Virat himself to get us going in this particular format,” Rohit said ahead of India’s opening Test against Sri Lanka in Mohali.

“You know what he’s done with the Test team over the years was brilliant to see. For me, I have to honestly just take it from where he’s left. The team stands in a very good position. Of course, we are somewhere midway in the World Test Championship table, but honestly, I don’t see that we’ve done anything wrong in the last two or three years of Test cricket. Of course, we want to improve as a team, every game that we play, and that is always going to be the benchmark that we’re going to set for ourselves moving forward. We’re looking forward to correct all our mistakes that we made in the past. No team I believe is perfect. You always try and improve every game. So that will be the sole purpose of us moving forward in the right direction.”

This will be Rohit’s first match as India Test captain and as excited as he is for this new challenge, he’s hoping to do right by the players and ensure that the team is focused on the present and not looking too far ahead.

“Honestly, I’m looking forward to just win games as much as possible and do the right things with the right players in the squad. That is the whole point,” Rohit said. “It’s a completely different ballgame – limited-overs and Test cricket. But my philosophy of captaincy will remain the same. I wouldn’t go away from that. And that is just staying in the present, understanding the situation that the team is in and what is the right call to make at that particular time. I’ll be thinking about all those things. It’s five-day cricket, so obviously things will change every day. So you have to do a lot of analyzing about how the first day went, what you need to do on day two, day three, and thereon. So I think a lot of things depend on how we react to a particular situation and then whatever planning or whatever strategy that we need to create, we will create that. That has been my philosophy, not to think too far ahead.

“It’s important to stay and think one thing at a time and not go too far ahead. Like we all know, it’s a different format, Test cricket and limited-overs. So there is no comparison there. It will be a challenge of course, it’s the first time I’m leading in red-ball cricket for India. I’ve captained a few games in Ranji Trophy but again, a whole lot of different challenge it is when you’re captaining the test team. But it’s something I’m really looking forward to. it’s going to be very exciting. And I really can’t wait.”

India are also in a tight spot in the WTC points table and have an uphill task at hand if they are to make the finals for the second time in a row.

“It’s gonna be a challenging one, no doubt about that. it’s going to be important that those nine Test matches that we’re going to play, I feel like we have to win almost every game. There will be a lot of pressure. But I think that is where you know you will build a lot of character as a team. You will see some of the champion cricketers coming out from these situations and that’s my belief; you thrive under pressure and you turn out to be a solid cricketer for the future.”

Rohit also spoke about the void left by Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, both of whom have been dropped for his series, and was excited to see how the likes of Hanuma Vihari, Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill fare. Rohit said that these players have been “waiting for a while” and he is looking forward to giving these guys a long run.

“Mayank, Shubman, Vihari, all these guys are brilliant. They are the future of Indian cricket. You know, and I think they need to be given a solid run for them to excel in this particular format. It’s important for us to do that and it will start from the management to show enough support, enough backing.

“Wherever there are changes in the squad, it’s always a fresh start for the guys who are coming in and it’s never easy. But those guys who are going to replace these two guys, Pujara and Rahane, have done exceedingly well whenever they’ve gotten an opportunity, whether it’s first-class cricket back home, or the India A tours or the limited opportunities that they’ve got playing Test cricket. I think we need to just back these guys to come good for us. You know, at times, you always need to look forward and I think those guys have been waiting for a while now. So hopefully, if they get an opportunity, they can turn things around for us. And it’s just not about one or two games but I’m looking at a number of years for them playing for India and doing well for us.”

Glad that the crowds have been allowed for the Test, which will also be Kohli’s 100th, Rohit harked back to his most favourite memories of his colleague.

“As a team, my favourite memory is the series which we won in Australia in 2018. It was a great series and Virat was the captain,” Rohit reminisced. “As an individual, my best memory of him is his Test hundred in South Africa in 2013. The pitch we were playing on was very challenging, it had a lot of bounce and a lot of us were playing a Test in South Africa for the first time. To then face Steyn, Morkel, Philander and Kallis… it was never going to be easy but the way Virat batted in that match, scoring hundred in the first innings and 90 odd in the second, was sensational. It was one of his best knocks. He had made a hundred in Perth in 2018 too but I think the one in South Africa beats that.”