Strokes batsmen play on Indian wickets cannot be tried overseas

MUMBAI: Following his exploits against Sri Lanka at home, Rohit Sharma is set to consolidate his career as a Test player during India’s tour of South Africa. In an exclusive interview with HT, Rohit spoke on topics ranging from leadership to improving as a batsman. Excerpts:

Having captained India against Sri Lanka, would you say leadership brings something extra out of you?

Every time you play for India, there is responsibility. But when you are captaining, you can say so; you have to lead from the front and make sure the team follows the direction you want them to. For me, whenever I go out in the middle it is a responsibility; whether I am captain or a player.

Ahead of challenging assignments starting with the South Africa tour, do you think India have their bases covered?

Yeah. Most importantly, we have toured this place before with almost the same squad. We have to take it one tour at a time. We have a good pace attack and batting line-up. There will be times in South Africa when we will be challenged . We have to stand up. We know what to expect and that will give us a lot of confidence.

Does having less time to prepare for overseas tour affect mentally?

I don’t think it will affect anyone mentally, but skill-wise we can say so. Ideally, anyone would like to have time to prepare well. But now we have to go ahead and do what is in front of us. We cannot do much about it. Mentally, guys are ready for whatever lies ahead.

Having played with them, I understand nobody thinks about all these things, it is about going out and doing what we need to do. There are things we control but things that are not in control, no point wasting time and energy into that. We know we have six days, we will try and make most of it.

How well is the team prepared for pacerfriendly wickets?

SA is not going to be easy. It is not just India, any team which has been put on a pacy and bouncy track will struggle to score runs, it is the nature of the game. We have seen that in the Ashes, in that day-night Test at Adelaide everybody struggled except one or two batsmen. There can be such situations where one or two batsmen will bail you out.

That is the kind of challenge we want, to play on challenging pitches and conditions. So what if you fail as a team to deliver, there is always learning from that. We said before the start of the Sri Lanka Test series that we wanted to play on challenging pitches and Kolkata was a perfect start. We did not do well, but we got to learn so much.

Proteas have big names such as Dale Steyn and AB de Villiers, who are making comeback. Having gone through a long injury layoff yourself, do you think there is additional pressure?

It is, because you will not feel the same like before getting injured. Steyn had a shoulder surgery, he is playing after almost an year… that is a long lay-off. But with his experience I don’t think there will be a problem. All eyes will be on him and de Villliers as they have not played much of late.

Who are the three bowlers India should be wary of?

Their bowling attack is the most challenging (one) in the world right now. Any home team tends to put a lot of pressure on the touring side. It will be (Kagiso) Rabada, Steyn, and one between (Vernon) Philander and (Morne) Morkel. They might play also an all-rounder like Chris Morris.

India’s tour is being described as the best chance to win in SA. Do you agree?

I agree because it is the best pace attack we have. We believe we can take 20 wickets. These 5-6 bowlers have played together for a number of years now, and are one of the reasons why we are No 1. We have played at home but you still have to use the conditions to your advantage. We have lost only one Test this year, the consistency shows our bowlers have been able to take wickets. I don’t know how much of a role the spinners will have, but the fast bowlers need to step up.

What kind of mental preparation is needed for such a series?

You have to keep telling yourself the shots you play in India, you cannot outside. That has to start with practice; certain shots that you play, on the rise, cut or pull… on pitches with extra bounce in SA you have to keep telling yourself, ‘no, I cannot play the pull shot from that length’ or ‘cannot drive on up’.

As a batsman, you rely on timing, do you want to add powerhitting as a new skill?

I am happy with the way I hit the ball. There is a certain element of power into it but not completely. It is like 80 per cent timing and 20 per cent power. The sixes I hit have crossed a decent distance; I try and get into the line of the ball and time it. That is my strength and I will stick to it.

You start slowly in ODIs and capitalize eventually. Do you think the same can be done for more runs in Test cricket?

I would love to do that in Test cricket as well. My strength is to try and dominate and take the game away from the opposition. Wherever I bat, I have to understand the conditions, respect the bowlers and see how I can be destructive. SA is not the easiest place to bat; the first 20-25 minutes can be challenging, but once set, try and play your game.