Sharma claims victory for India in England Test series

NEW DELHI  - India batting star Rohit Sharma risked controversy Monday by claiming that his country won a recent Test series in

England that was cut short by a coronavirus scare before the final match could be played.

With England and India still negotiating over whether the fifth match in
the series will go ahead, Sharma told reporters: "In my eyes we have won the
series 2-1."

   India were leading the series going into the fifth Test in Manchester,
which was called off just two hours before it was due to start after Indian
players expressed concerns over a coronavirus outbreak in their camp.

   The move prompted anger from England because of the huge losses incurred.

   Sharma is the first player to come out and claim the series for India --
comments that could rub salt in England's wounds.

   "It was a great tour personally for me and for the team as well," said
Sharma, who is widely tipped to take over as India's Twenty20 captain when
Virat Kohli steps down after the World Cup next month.

   "I don't know what has happened with the last Test match, whether we have
won the series or we are going to play that one-off Test later.

   "In my eyes we have won the series 2-1, that's how I would like to look at
it."

   Sourav Ganguly, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)
president, has said a rescheduled match "should be considered the fifth Test
of the series".

   India has proposed a one-off Test during their white-ball tour of England
in July next year.

   But England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Tom Harrison has
insisted that such a fixture would likely be a "standalone" with the
International Cricket Council deciding on the series result.

   Sharma is a limited-overs star who has led the Mumbai Indians to a record
five Indian Premier League titles, but he has become a Test regular by
curbing his attacking instincts.

   The 34-year-old opener played a key role in the England series, with 368
runs including a match-winning century in the fourth Test.

   "But I wouldn't say this was my best. My best is yet to come," he said.
"For me it was a great challenge and I overcame that challenge pretty well.

   "For that I did a lot of preparation. I know when you are playing in
England what sort of mindset, what sort of small little technical adjustments
you need to do.

   "I managed to do that and I was pretty happy with how I batted on that
tour. I would like to take that confidence from there and take it into my
future Test series as well."

   Sharma, the first player to hit twin tons on his debut as Test opener in
2019, has played 43 Tests since 2013.