Former India national cricket team captain Rohit Sharma has openly said that he will do things his own way and take complete control in the rest of his career in international cricket.
Rohit Sharma also opened up on his brilliant partnership with Virat Kohli in the Sydney ODI and said that they understand each other very well after playing together for over a decade.
I think after a long time we have not made a 100 run partnership – Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli entered the ODI series against the Australia national cricket team with a lot of expectations on their shoulders as fans and experts wanted the pair to shine.
However, they failed miserably in the first ODI in Perth. Rohit Sharma managed to make a comeback with a half-century in the second ODI in Adelaide, but Kohli was out for a duck for the second consecutive time.
Meanwhile, things finally turned positive in the final ODI in Sydney as they put together a batting masterclass and punished the Australian bowlers while chasing 237. They looked in complete control and made a partnership of 168* runs in 170 balls. Rohit Sharma scored 121* runs in 125 balls with the help of 13 fours and 3 sixes and Kohli scored 74 runs in 81 balls with the help of 7 fours.
Speaking on BCCI.TV after the match, Rohit Sharma said that they had a 100-run partnership after a long time and he enjoyed it a lot. He said:
“After a long, long time, I think we haven’t had a 100-run partnership in a long time. It was good to get that partnership from a team perspective, seeing how we were at one point. We lost Gill early there.”
There was a lot of conversation between us both – Rohit Sharma
The great opening batsman further said that he and Virat Kohli talked a lot while in the middle and he used his experience very well. He said:
“Not quickly, I mean, we still managed to get 40-45 runs and then Gill got out. So obviously, we knew there was extra responsibility on the batsmen with Strayers not being there and it was a great partnership. We enjoyed every moment we spent there.
“There was a lot of interaction between the two of us. We played a lot of cricket together. We understand each other very well. So it was just about growing the game, understanding what is required at that time. And that definitely comes with experience, there is so much experience between both of us. So we used it very well.”
Also read: BCCI selector blames Rohit Sharma for Shubman Gill’s flop show in Australia ODI
I wanted to do things my own way, on my own terms – Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma also talked about his preparations for the Australia tour. He said that he had a lot of time to prepare and he used it to do things his way and plan for the rest of his career. He elaborated:
“Ever since I started playing, I never had four to five months to prepare for a series. So I wanted to utilize that. I wanted to do things my own way, on my own terms. And that’s been really great for me. Understanding what I need to do for the rest of my career. It was important to utilize that time because, like I said, I never had that much time on my hands. So I wanted to utilize that time and I did it at home. Prepared very well.
“Obviously, the conditions at home and here are not ideal. It’s a big difference between the two countries, but I’ve been here a lot of times. So it was just about getting into that rhythm and understanding what I need to do here. So yes, I give a lot of credit to how I prepared before coming here, gave myself a lot of time beforehand.
“It was very important because sometimes you have to understand that there is a lot more to do in life other than what you do professionally. But I had a lot of time on my hands, so I used that.
“And like I said, I can do things on my own terms, on my own time, which really helped me. Very, very grateful, first of all, people stand with you. And I’m very grateful for that. To be honest, whenever we have played, people have come out and supported, not just the two of us, but the whole team. And that was good to see. In Australia, the crowd never disappoints. They come in huge numbers to watch cricket. Because two good teams are playing, they want to see quality cricket. And that’s what you get from both of these teams.”
