Rohit Sharma is in a happy space as the team's stylish opener who has, over the years, learnt how to balance desperation and patience at the crease to bring in victories for the squad. He spoke of how he has learnt to be patient, respect the conditions and work hard to bat long into the innings even if that means curbing his natural instinct to mount runs furiously. Excerpts from the pre-match Press conference he addressed at The Oval:
You have 23 hundreds and are among the top three. Did you know five years ago when you started opening that you will hit this milestone?
I don't look into all that. As long as I'm playing, I want to make sure that I do the job for the team. Whatever happens along the way is an external reward.For me, it's always been going and getting the job done for the team. When I started opening the innings, it was challenging but I've come a long way since then and it's through hard work and understanding.
The journey and milestones will continue. I just want to make sure that I make my team win as many games as possible. That's the sole and whole job of me as a batsman. Along the way, you get rewards. I will take it any day.
Heading into the World Cup, there was concern of the No. 4 position. How does the team deal with that?
He was very much in the line to play that ball. It just stuck in the pitch. Because he was batting on 26, played about 40-odd balls, he thought he was in. After you play a certain number of balls, you want to try and put the pressure on the bowler otherwise you can't score runs. You can't let bowlers keep bowling their length and line. I'm sure he was trying to just push it but unfortunately the ball got stuck in the pitch. That 80 plus partnership we got was crucial at that point, having lost two early wickets.
So yes, he might not seem that he didn't get a big runs, but that 26 was as good as getting a 50-plus runs on that pitch.He's got a technique, as well, to bat there. It's going to be a good tournament for him.
Aaron Finch said that Steve Smith is the best batsman in the world across all three formats. You've got a pretty good batter across all three formats in your team. Do you agree with Aaron on that?
This is a debate we will continue as long as these guys are playing. It's for you guys to judge.
Before coming to the World Cup you spoke about balancing desperation and patience. Can you talk about the discipline that you've worked on?
The 2013 Champions Trophy which we won gave me a lot of confidence that I could get the job done at the top of the order. Since then, I've enjoyed my time. This is a very challenging sport. It's not easy, especially when you come to this part of the world where the conditions are challenging. You know, at times you can't go with your natural instinct and just have to respect the conditions. That's what I've done in these five years. I've understood my game well. You know how you can play and how you can't play in India, Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand. That is something that I've understood how you need to bat on certain given conditions. So those are the things I've calculated and I've brought into my game have probably given me success.