Skipper Rohit Sharma on Wednesday said he revelled in the company of his young "mischievous" teammates and was overwhelmed by emotions as they made their debuts during India's monumental 4-1 Test series triumph over England.
In absence of some big stars including Virat Kohli, the five-Test home series saw five youngsters -- Rajat Patidar, Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan, Akash Deep and Devdutt Padikkal -- make their debut as India showed resilience to fight back after losing the opening Test in Hyderabad.
"Personally, mujhe inke saath kaam karke bahut maza aya. Jitne bhi young ladke the... sabkaafi chulbule the. (I really loved playing with them. All of them are very mischievous)," Rohit said on his Instagram and Twitter handles "Team Ro".
"I knew most of them well and what their strengths are and how they want to play the game. It was just for me to give them the comfort by talking about how good they are and the good things they have done in the past. The way they responded to me and Rahul bhai (coach Rahul Dravid) was superb."
Moved by the youngster's stories and the emotions surrounding it, Rohit said he was "lost in their debuts".
"I was lost in the debut of all these boys. Their parents were also there, there were a lot of emotions. I really enjoyed seeing their debuts."
The India skipper cited the example of Sarfaraz Khan, saying he had seen his journey, having played against his father as a youngster.
"I was just lost in their debuts. I was enjoying their debuts so much because their parents were there. There was so much emotion. I have played with Sarfaraz’s father in Kanga league when I was very young.
"His father was a left handed batter. He was an aggressive player and very well known in Mumbai cricket circles. I wanted to acknowledge his effort and hard work that had paid off with his son playing for India. I just wanted to tell him that his son’s Test cap belongs as much to him as his son," Rohit said.
India had to grind it out after enduring a defeat in the opening Test where Ollie Pope slammed a superb second innings 196 to guide his side to a 28-run win.
"Pope's hundred was one of the best hundreds I've seen by an overseas batter that acutally won them the game," Rohit said.
"Having lost the first match, it's never easy, as so many questions would creep in whether you played the right combination, right brand of cricket. But it was important to stay calm and let it flow. 'It happens, we don't need to panic' it was important to send that message into the group with four Tests to go."
Rohit was quick to point out Yashasvi Jaiswal's double century in India's first innings score of 396 and the match-winning nine-wicket match haul of Jasprit Bumrah that helped them level the series in Vizag.
"That Bumrah's spell in Vizag was unreal. On a flat pitch, with 35-36 degrees C heat, it's not easy for a fast bowler and here comes Bumrah, gets the ball to reverse both sides and brings you into the game. I've never seen any fast bowler in India bowl the way he has bowled and got us those wickets.
"Jaiswal's 209 was more than half the the team's score -- the next best score was 30-40 (34 by Shubman Gill).
"We knew if we lost that Test it would be tough to win three in a row. For us to win that Test was so important. Someone had to bail the team out and Jaiswal and Bumrah stood up."
Rohit was also all praise for Kuldeep Yadav who shone not only with the ball but also impressed with his rearguard action with the willow (19 wickets and 90 runs from four matches).
"The most pleasing to see for me was Kuldeep Yadav, the way he bowled in those four Tests, and took crucial wickets... Also the most pleasing aspect was to see his batting. He's been working hard and it's good to see him get the rewards of his hard work."
The Indian skipper also praised Dhruv Jurel and Shubman Gill's unbroken second innings partnership in fourth Test in Ranchi when they steered the team from being 120/5 to chase down 192 on a fourth day turner.
"Gill and Jurel showed what skills they have got and how to absorb pressure," he said.
He was high on praise for Indian spin ace Ravichandran Ashwin who returned with 26 wickets in the series.
"Ash's career speaks for himself. He's a matchwinner for Team India be it overseas or at home. Imagine the pressure he goes through, to come out on top and keep delivering series after series says a lot about him. I loved it. I hope we play a lot of cricket together in future as well," Rohit signed off.
