Rohit Sharma was nervous returning to the field after 4 months

It was a tough 4-month period for Rohit Sharma and India’s top order in limited-overs cricket with the opener injuring his thigh muscle that needed him to go under the knife. All that seemed to have come to an end when Rohit entered the cricket field for a professional game at the SSN College in Chennai playing for Mumbai against Andhra. Rohit though would need a couple of more games before making a return to the national side.

“I felt good,” said Rohit on returning to cricket after a long gap. “Though I wanted to spend more time with the bat which didn’t happen, that was fine. I was pretty nervous to be honest to get back onto the field and play.”

This wasn’t the first time an injury put Rohit out of the game for a while. In 2011 and 2014, he underwent surgeries to his fingers and missed the game for a couple of months. “Coming back after 4 months is never easy,” says the India’s limited-overs opener.

“But I have done that before where I came back from injury and carried on from there. I was trying to think positive rather than think about what has happened. I felt good fielding for full innings. I always wanted to spend as much time as possible to see how the muscle which was injured can take load and everything.”

Also read- Stats: Indian batsmen who missed most Tests between two appearances

That is something which was told to me by the physios at the NCA. There is another game which I have to play where I will look forward to spend more time in the middle with bat and also the fielding which will be my real test,” said Rohit on his plans for next game in the Vijay Hazare Trophy against Goa.

When asked if switching between formats is a tougher task, Rohit says that he is used to it and the current generation is such that they have to be well prepared to feature in different formats in consecutive days.

“For the past 3-4 years may be more, we have been doing that playing ODI format and then switching to Test format and the guys here as well they know how to play accordingly. Like a month back they were playing Ranji Trophy and playing with the white ball now. So it is getting used mentally. You need to talk yourself that this is what is in front of you and adapt to it. I don’t think it is difficult now that most of the guys are used to it. I don’t think that is an issue right now,” said Rohit to the media after his comeback game.

Though Rohit Sharma has managed to seal his place in the limited-overs team as an opener, his berth in Test cricket is still doubtful with many contenders for the middle order spots. With the opening spot in the Tests being a bother for the team a few do want India to try Rohit at the top.

However, Rohit says if team in fact asks him to play that role, he will be ready enough for it. “It is not right to talk about where I want to play in any format. If the team wants, not just me, any player has to be ready to adapt to it. Like today there was a situation where they wanted me to bat at 4. I have to be ready to bat any position the teams want. For the Test format, if they come and ask me, I will think about it. It’s not that I am going to say no to it because you have to think before every decision you are going to take.”

Similarly, Rohit says that agreeing to team’s needs helped his ODI career to take a turn. ”Likewise the opening in ODIs came to me as the team wanted me to bat there as the slot was available and they thought that my game suits in England where the bounce is a lot and I enjoy where there is a lot of bounce.”

Speaking about the presence of Sachin Tendulkar during IPL, Rohit says that Sachin is someone who is an inspiration to look at and someone from who he can learn more mentally and has a lot to take from the great man’s book.

“We always discuss cricket. That man was completely different. You can’t do what he has done like his thinking and his mindset which were completely different from mine. What I try and understand from him is or take into my books is how he prepares before the game and how he was successful and consistent for over years. Playing like that being consistent for 25 years is never easy. It is something which I take from him.”

While the latest India-Australia series has seen India struggling big time against the Australian spinners, there have been a lot of doubts raised over the commitment of the Indian batsmen and caliber against the spin. However, Rohit feels write off someone on the basis off a couple of innings and ignoring the previous series where the Indian batsmen piled the runs against the opposition spinners. “Last two series we played against England and New Zealand, all our batsmen did well on turners. We posted scores of 500 almost every second innings. On an average we posted 450+,” Rohit said.

“Yes, we struggled in the last game which I saw. Both captain and coach have accepted the defeat to move forward which is the right thing to do. I can’t say that we have been exposed to spin bowling. We can have one off game. I am sure they going to come back and do what they are capable of,” he added.