Just want to focus on doing well every time I go and play Test cricket: Rohit Sharma

The way Rohit Sharma started his Test career, it looked like India would not struggle much in the middle-order after the retirement of legendary Sachin Tendulkar. Rohit had made his debut in the series which was Tendulkar’s last and briefly hogged the limelight by scoring centuries in both the Test. However, those twin tons were not at all the pointer to how Rohit’s Test career would follow.

Unlike in ODIs and T20Is, the right-handed batsman struggled in Tests and never really managed to cement his spot in the team due to inconsistency coupled with injury and the form of other players. But then again, giving up on a player like Rohit is just too big a sacrifice and India came up with a new idea to utilize him.

Just like his limited-overs career, Rohit was asked to open in Tests too and the start has been really promising. He opened the innings for the first time in the series against South Africa and set the stage on fire. The Mumbai star scored three tons in four innings including a double century as India blanked the Proteas.

The India star, however, is not getting carried away with the start and is not at all ready to rest on the laurels. He made it clear that he is not focussing on the past and is looking forward to delivering in Tests on every occasion.

“It was a great series but as long as I’m playing, there will be no time for me to relax,” Rohit was quoted as saying by Deccan Herald. “I don’t want to look back now. I just want to focus on doing well every time I go and play test cricket and focus on what are the good things that I did in this series and take that forward.”

Red ball does a lot more than the white ball, says Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma is one of the best in the world when it comes to playing white-ball cricket. He is the only batsman with three 200-plus scores in one-dayers and smashed a record five centuries at this year’s World Cup even though India fell at the semi-final stage. However, his performance in Tests has not been up to the mark. He further spoke about the challenges of playing Test cricket.

“Red ball does a lot more than the white ball,” explained Rohit before adding, “So you have to keep telling yourself that you have to focus more, and be more disciplined in shot-making.

“In one day cricket, once you get past that powerplay overs the field is spread. You can just take singles and rotate the strike and then odd boundaries here and there will come. But Test cricket is not like that. There are a lot of catching positions, so you have to be very disciplined,” he added.

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