Amir’s Asia Cup dismissal a one-off, says Rohit Sharma
LEARNER Opener says the Pakistan paceman was just too good on that day
KOLKATA: Rohit Sharma’s batting can be both exhilarating and disappointing at times but the India opener thinks more about his game now than he did at the onset of his career. Barring a few failures in the Asia Cup, Rohit has had a good run in recent T20s, which he attributes to understanding his batting better.
“Things were different in the first five or six years. There are guys who can understand their game at that age but I was not one of them. It is only when you experience failure, experience disappointment that you relook at things,” he told a media interaction here on Tuesday.
Rohit isn’t apologetic about his style and feels batting at the top has allowed him more time to settle down. “It helps you take time to settle down so you can actually use the full 50 or 20 overs. I have made mistakes in the past but I have learnt from them. I think about my batting a lot more now. It is not as if I have changed my game completely. That means if a ball is there in my arc, I will hit it even if it means I could get out trying to do that,” said the man who has two ODI double centuries to his name. IN TANDEM With Shikhar Dhawan as opening partner, Rohit said his focus is to complement him. ‘We really understand each other,” he said. “Some days it’s me who will go after the bowlers. Sometimes it will be him doing the same. If he’s doing well he should be allowed to face more deliveries. As openers we know the responsibility is on us to give India a good start. Again, it won’t happen every time. You will have failures and some disappointments but that is not the end of the world.”
There was talk of how Rohit was bamboozled by Mohammad Amir in the India-Pakistan game at the Asia Cup but he dismissed it as a one-off. “He is a good bowler, no doubt. He was just good that day. As simple as that. He bowled one that came back sharply. I don’t take note of an individual bowler, I look at the bowling unit,” he said. Rohit refused to read too much into that dismissal. “Just leave him, he’s
just come (after the ban), I don’t think we should go gaga over him. Let him perform for one more year and we will see whether he deserves so much... People are comparing him to Wasim Akram and all that. It’s wrong. Definitely he’s got talent but aisa kuch nahin ki aake woh sabko uda hi deta hai (it’s not as if he shakes up everyone).” REAL MOTIVATION Rohit said the success of Virat Kohli or Ajinkya Rahane doesn’t necessarily spur him. “Virat and Ajinkya’s success helps the team and keeps us in good space but I can’t play the way they do. I don’t see their success as motivation. Wearing this (India) jersey is motivation.”
Playing at home will be an advantage, but Rohit is not reading too much into the team’s current momentum. “Every team will be doing their homework. We have the advantage of playing in front of the home crowd but that doesn’t count for anything because you have to be at your best on that particular day. We want to take it step by step,” he said.