Rohit cut up with criticism, was sure runs would return
MATCH-WINNING CENTURY AGAINST SOUTH AFRICA FOLLOWED POOR RUN
ndia vice-captain Rohit Sharma is glad that his return to form coincided with his team’s maiden ODI series triumph on South African soil but insisted that he wasn’t unsettled by the preceding low scores either.
Sharma struck a match-winning 115 in the fifth one-dayer here on Tuesday, a pivotal knock in India’s 73-run triumph, which gave the side an unassailable 4-1 lead in the six-match series. The inconsequential sixth ODI is scheduled to be held tomorrow in Centurion.
The hundred came at a crucial juncture for Sharma, who had drawn flak for his indifferent run so far. In fact, the right-hander improved a pitiful record in South Africa with his 17th ODI ton. He had scored only 40 runs in the first four games.
“I got out in three matches only, how can you say form is bad after three matches? You guys put people in good form after one match, and if somebody doesn’t have three good matches, you say he is in bad form,” Sharma said.
“In 2013 it was different. I had just turned into an opener from a middle-order batsman. The way I am batting now, it has evolved a lot. Whatever happened before 2013 and in 2013, forget about that,” he added, referring to his poor past record in South Africa.
Sharma said it was just not fair to declare anybody a failure or success on the basis of two or three performances.
“I admit the first three matches weren’t great but that happens with everybody. But I was in a good frame of mind, I was batting well in the nets and there was no pattern to my dismissals. That happens in every cricketer’s career,” he said.
Sharma said he kept following his routines in the belief that a big knock was just around the corner. “Such a situation does come that you are trying your hardest but things don’t come off. So, at that point it is important that you relax, take a step back and think about what you need to do in the next game because every day is a new day,” he said.
The stylish batsman said just as one or two failures don’t define him, one hundred cannot make him complacent. “My hundred has gone now and in the next game I play, if I score a hundred it isn’t going to matter much. So it is important to stay in the present and this is what we talk about in our dressing room.
“If you trust your routines, you won’t have to wait too long for results. Like I did, and I knew that a big score was coming and I just have to be in that zone, not get completely bogged down and start worrying about my batting.”
The win also assured India of the No. 1 spot in the ICC rankings.
Both Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane were dismissed for India after horrendous mix ups. It changed Sharma’s mindset about celebrating his return to form with a fine century.