Rohit Sharma, the talented Indian right-hander remains the target for the Indian fans and the media ever since he made his ODI debut way back in 2007. Till 2012, he was a flop in ODIs and when he got a chance to open the innings in 2013, he has been a different player. He has smashed records that came his way and remained consistent at the top. Now, he is facing a similar thing in Test matches. He had a decent outing in the recently concluded Test series against Sri Lanka, in which he ended as the second highest run-getter for India. There was a lot of question marks over his place in the Indian Test team and is receiving a lot of criticisms from the fans and media. He spoke to BCCI.tv regarding this and here are the excerpts:
On the criticisms he is receiving from the media and the fans:
I have zero expectations outside. What happens outside is not going to help my cricket. What is going to help my cricket is me working hard, doing what I have been doing in the nets and getting better as a player everyday. And I will stick to it. It has happened to me in the past and you know till you play it will keep happening as a sportsman no one goes through a very clean patch. They will have some sort of up and down in their career. I am no different and I can say things have been up and down, but as long as I am enjoying my cricket nothing can stop me. I am really enjoying with the boys, enjoying the victories we are having and yeah I am a very positive person. I look to think ahead what is ahead of me and going into this Test match again I wanted to make a contribution. Any sort of contribution that can help my team is more than enough for me.
On the pressure of competition
The pressure I feel will be on the management and the captain to decide the XI, not on me. I have to play my game when I get an opportunity. That’s how I look at it.
On where he wants to bat
It’s really important what the captain and team management wants. Personal preference is to bat wherever the team asks me to bat. That’s all I can answer. If you ask anyone, they are not going to say this is my number. Nowhere it’s written in the world that No 4 belongs to this person, No 3 belongs to this person. If you understand well and good. As a batsmen you want to bat as up the order as possible to get more opportunities and face more balls and score big runs. Again, the management felt I bat at No 5 and they came and spoke to me and I was okay to whatever they wanted. The same thing happened to me in ODIs as well. They felt I should open for whatever abilities I have. So I agreed to do whatever they want me to do. I cannot have my own preference, its a team game and you do what the team wants from you.