Indian batsman Rohit Sharma on Monday expressed delight about the BCCI’s decision to recommend his name for the government’s prestigious Arjuna Award and said that he felt “honoured”. “Khushi to bahut hai (I feel very happy). I am honoured that BCCI has recommended my name. It felt very good when I heard it yesterday (Sunday),” said Rohit at a promotional event for adidas here.
BCCI took the decision to put forth Roihit’s name to the government for the Arjuna Award on Sunday at its working committee meeting in Kolkata. The 27-year-old Mumbaikar scored a brilliant 264 against Sri lanka last season, the highest score in the world in ODI cricket, at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. He is the only batsman to have scored two ODI double hundreds.
Rohit, who is leading Mumbai Indians in the IPl, said though the team’s performance has not been good so far, the squad members are hoping to carry the momentum they got when defending a small total successfully against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday. “We could have batted better. Our bowlers won us the game though we were defending a small total. We are hoping to carry the momentum into our next game (against Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium on May 1),” said Rohit.
“We have quality in the team. We defended 157 which is not easy to do at the Wankhede Stadium. We are also the side which has scored 210. We have to continue the momentum.” “I know we have not performed well, two wins in seven is not good. But we were in similar situation last year too and qualified (for the play-offs). I am not saying we should do so every year,” he explained.
Though MI has lost the services of Josh Hazlewood and Corey Anderson, Rohit said there were others who now have the chance to step up to the plate and deliver. The right-handed batsman, who does not play unorthodox shots even in T20 cricket, felt there was no reason for him to do so.