‘Whenever he sees a green pitch, he eats extra biriyani’ – Rohit Sharma on his net sessions with Mohammed Shami

Rohit Sharma, the Indian ODI and T20I vice-captain, recently spoke about his net sessions with Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah. The Nagpur-born, who turned 33 a few days ago, featured on Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues’ talk-show ‘Double Trouble’. There the right-hander spoke about how the practice wickets are prepared green along with moisture.

Revealing about Shami, Rohit said that he prefers to have biriyani before trying his luck out on the green tops. Sharma also heaped praises on the Ahmedabad-born Bumrah, talking about how tough is to face. Moreover, Rohit said that there’s a healthy competition between Shami and Bumrah on beating the batsman’s bat.

Shami, I have been playing since 2013: Rohit Sharma

“The pitches we have for net sessions are almost always green with moisture. And whenever Shami sees a green pitch, he eats extra biryani! Bumrah is also difficult but he has been around only for two-three years,” Rohit was quoted as saying in the show.

“Shami, I have been playing since 2013. But yeah, right now there must be a competition going on between Bumrah and Shami, on who beats the bat most, who can hit the most on the helmets,” he stated.

Apart from the two fast bowlers, Rohit also spoke about hitting wide-yorkers over the point boundary for sixes. To master the art, he used to ask Lasith Malinga to bowl toe-crushers at him in the nets during the 2013-14 editions of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

“That is my favourite shot (over the point), I used to bat in the lower-order. I requested Malinga (Lasith) to bowl me five-six yorkers even if it is on my foot. I used to take the ball on the full and try to middle it over the point boundary. From then, it has helped me play yorkers better,” Rohit added.

Rohit is the most successful in the IPL, having won the Mumbai Indians (MI) four titles. For the Indian team, he has three double centuries in ODIs and four tons in T20Is, making him one of the most successful batters in the format. In the last few years, Rohit has grown as an individual and is currently an indispensable member of Team India.