Rohit Sharma has been a superstar for India in limited overs while opening the innings. The elegant right hander averages in excess of 50 as an opener and his contributions have been profusely vital to the success achieved by the men in blue. 2016 has been a mixed year for the right hander, as he had a fantastic tour of Australia, where he was named the Man of the Series in the ODI’s. However, his form dipped during the World T20, and then his IPL franchise couldn’t make it to the playoffs.
Sharma was recently awarded the “Indian ODI Cricketer of the Year” in the CEAT awards for his complete hardwork. Post winning the award, in an interview with TOI, Sharma stated that opening the innings had done wonders to his batting. Below, are the excerpts from the interview.
On being voted the ODI Cricketer of the Year:
It’s nice to have won awards along the way but it doesn’t put me under pressure. I don’t go out on the field thinking that I want to be ODI or Test cricketer of the year. What motivates me is to win matches for my team and keep performing. Having said that, it’s a nice feeling to have won this award and see your performance recognised.
On the importance of opening the innings:
Opening the batting definitely helped me change my batting. It gives you more time, responsibility. I never thought I’ll open the batting for India some day. I had opened for my school and college teams, but never for Mumbai. But my teammates and the team management believed that I have the technique to handle the new ball. They showed a lot of trust. When you get that, it gives you the motivation too. The team felt that I should be top of the order and I said ‘Ok, if they feel so, I should take it as a challenge.’
More than technique, I had to work on the mental aspect of my game too. Especially when you play outside India, it isn’t easy, because the conditions are different. You’ve got to counter those challenges. So, mentally I started to train myself. And then everything started to fall in place. In my first stint as an opener, we won the Champions Trophy. I kept backing myself that I can do it. Then, I scored the double hundred against Australia.
On his poor form during the World T20:
It’s sad but things like these happen. You’ll have tours where you’d not be that effective. But, I’ve learnt this in eight years that you’ve to take things in your stride and move forward. I understand that my form was crucial for us. Every time I went, I was only trying to do my best and give whatever I have. When you’re opening, the team expects certain things from you, like giving a solid start and put pressure on the bowlers from ball one. I was only trying to do that. I just wanted to lay the platform for our solid middle-order. I thought I was being extra-positive, which was a mistake. But again, I back my game. That’s how I approach cricket and if it doesn’t come off, I don’t want to get disappointed and put myself down. It’s fine. We’ve allotted certain roles to certain players. Throughout the tournament, we played well. It’s just that we were unlucky in Mumbai, where things didn’t go our way. 192 was a competitive score on that track. We were one of the strongest bowling sides in the tournament.