Rohit Sharma ended the long wait of returning to Test cricket and he marked his comeback with a magnificent hundred in the 2nd Test against Sri Lanka in Nagpur. He scored 102 runs in the first innings and looked as fluent as ever.
The right-hander was always believed to be a talented batsman but somehow, he wasn’t able to transform his limited overs form to the longest format of the game. He had made a grand entry into Test cricket by slamming 2 centuries in his first 2 Tests against West Indies in 2013 but he faded away soon and despite getting several chances, never really lived up to the expectations.
He has been a tremendous ODI and T20I batsman for India in the past few years and has won several matches single-handedly. His lackluster outings in Test cricket frustrated everyone immensely but the faith shown in him by skipper Virat Kohli has finally paid dividends
His knock has come just at the right time as team India is preparing for the all-important tour of South Africa. The conditions in the rainbow nation offer pace and bounce and Rohit Sharma is someone who never has had issues with it and so, he could be a handy batsman at No.6.
Rohit was delighted after getting the century and admitted that he used to take a lot of pressure earlier of performing in Test cricket. He also went on to say that he doesn’t think about the past and focusses on the future.
Here’s what Rohit Sharma said
There will always be regrets in your life. Even if you score 10,000 runs, you will feel, ‘oh, I should have scored 15,000 runs’ or people will tell you, ‘you should have scored 15,000 runs, man! But for me, I am glad that I am back on my feet because when I went through that injury (thigh surgery in 2016), at one point I was thinking whether I will be able to walk or not,” he told reporters after the match as per TOI.
“I am not someone who will think about what has happened in the past. I like to see what is in front of me, and yes, that is how I look at it. When I was inexperienced having just come into the team, there were lot of things that I used to think about, but not anymore. I have passed that age where I shouldn’t be thinking what happened in the past,” he added.
“I should be ready for what is ahead of me and that’s what matters. What has happened in the past is gone – you can never change it. For me, I can change things looking forward, and looking forward is Delhi Test match and thereafter one-day series and then the South Africa series,” Rohit mentioned.
“My plans are simple and clear. I don’t want to complicate things which I have in the past, when had I just come into the team, At the end of the day, it’s just a cricket match that you have to play. Initially, my focus was much on Test cricket, like ‘Oh no this is Test cricket and I have to do well. I have to do this and that. In thinking that I lost a lot of focus and forgot (lost) what I was there for and what I needed to do and pretty clear in mind which is the most important thing,” he concluded.
