Former India National Cricket Team skipper Rohit Sharma has openly stated that he will do things his own way for the rest of his career in international cricket and will take over full control.
Rohit Sharma also opened up on his stunning partnership with Virat Kohli in the Sydney ODI and said that they understand each other very well after playing together for over a decade.
After a long, long time, I think we’ve not had a 100-run partnership – Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli entered the ODI series against Australia National Cricket Team with a lot of expectations on their shoulders, as fans and experts wanted the duo to shine Down Under.
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However, they failed miserably in the first ODI in Perth. In the second ODI in Adelaide, Rohit Sharma managed to bounce back with a half-century, but Kohli bagged his second consecutive duck.
Meanwhile, things finally took a positive turn in the final ODI in Sydney as together they showcased a batting masterclass and punished the Australian bowlers while chasing 237 runs. They looked in full control and built a partnership of 168* runs in 170 balls. Rohit Sharma scored 121* runs off 125 balls, with 13 fours and 3 sixes, and Kohli scored 74 runs off 81 balls, with 7 fours.
Speaking on BCCI.tv after the match, Rohit Sharma said that they had a 100-run partnership after a very long time, and they enjoyed it thoroughly. He said:
“After a long, long time, I think we’ve not had a 100-run partnership for a long time. It was good to get that partnership from the team’s perspective, looking at how we were placed at one point. We lost Gill early there.”
There was a lot of chatter between the two of us – Rohit Sharma
The legendary opening batsman further said that he and Virat Kohli chatted a lot while being in the middle, and they used their experience very well. He said:
“Not early, I mean, we still managed to get 40-45 and then Gill got out. So obviously, we knew with Strayers not being there, there is an added responsibility on the batters and it was a great partnership. We enjoyed every moment we spent out there.
“There was a lot of chatter between the two of us. We played so much cricket together. We understand each other really well. So it was just about taking the game, understanding what is required at that point. And it definitely comes with the experience as well, so much experience between the two of us. So we used it pretty well.”
Also Read: Rohit Sharma blamed by BCCI selector for Shubman Gill’s flop show in Australia ODIs
I wanted to do things on my way, in my own terms – Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma further talked about his preparations for the Australia tour. He said that he had a lot of time to prepare and utilized it to do things his own way and plan the rest of his career. He elaborated:
“Since the time I started playing, I never had four to five months to prepare for a series. So I wanted to utilise that. I wanted to do things on my way, in my own terms. And that actually worked out pretty well for me. Understanding what I need to do for the rest of my career. It was important to utilise that time because, like I said, never had such time in my hand. So I wanted to utilise that time and I prepared pretty well back home.
“Obviously, the conditions back home and here are not ideal. It’s a massive difference between the two countries, but I’ve come here so many times. So it was just about getting into that rhythm and understanding what I need to do here. So yeah, I give a lot of credit to how I prepped before coming here, giving a lot of time to myself first.
“That was very important because sometimes you’ve got to understand that there’s so much to do in life besides what you do professionally. But I got a lot of time in my hand, so I utilised that.
“And like I said, I could do things on my own terms, on my own time, which actually really helped me. Very, very grateful, firstly, to have people standing beside you. And I’m pretty grateful to that. Honestly, whenever we’ve played, people have come out and supported, not just the two of us, but the entire team. And that was good to see. In Australia, the crowd never disappoints. They come out in large numbers to watch cricket. Because two good teams playing, they want to watch quality cricket. And that is what you get with these two teams.”