Comebacks are not at all easy: Rohit Sharma

30-year old Indian batsman Rohit Sharma made a strong come back after a 6-month layoff due to a hamstring injury. Sharma notched up three hundreds and quite a few fifties in his last 10 innings. Two of them coming in successive matches during the ODI series against Sri Lanka. He made his comeback in the Champions Trophy, where Indian ended their campaign as finalists.

The talented cricketer has played 163 ODIs so far, scoring 5737 runs at an average of 43.46. He has also played 21 Test matches and 63 T20Is, scoring 1184 runs and 1373 runs respectively. Sharma also credited his IPL stint as an important ladder, while making his comeback to internationals.

“Comebacks are not at all easy. After a major surgery, the difficult part is to conquer the inner demons. It’s all in the mind. Only an individual can overcome his fears. My batting may look easy to the eye but trust me, it’s not that easy,” Rohit told PTI in an interview.

Importance of IPL

He was asked if he feared getting injured again, while going for a sharp single or holding on to a catch. Rohit laughed and said: “The best part that happened to me was IPL started just after I completed my rehab. “So while captaining Mumbai Indians and taking those on- field decisions, I couldn’t think about what happens if I get injured.” he added.

“And when I was playing for India, my mind became blank while batting. There was no place for any negativity,” Sharma said. He explained how he successfully tackled mystery spinner Akila Dananjaya after his six-wicket haul in the 2nd ODI match during the ODI series. “The half century was special but I didn’t face Dananjaya much during that match. I was out only one over after he was brought into the attack. But in the next two games, I got hundreds and I had no problems playing him.” Sharma said.

Tackling the mystery spinner

When asked about if he had a different approach, the batsman said “I realised that the speed of his googly was on the slower side while leg-breaks were faster. His off-break was easily negotiable. One thing we must know about these ‘Mystery Spinners’ — they are bound to bowl loose deliveries and Dananjaya is no different.”  “To each his own but my process of preparation is based on conditions not opposition. It won’t be any different when we face Australia,” Rohit said.

“In international cricket, the core group in most of the teams would remain same. So you know what’s expected but they will operate in different conditions which is why the homework about conditions is the key. You need to know the shots you can play on particular pitches, how you want to plan your innings,” Rohit elaborated.