Rohit Sharma played in the middle order at the start of his Test career. He only started opening the batting since the ICC World Test Championship and since then has been unstoppable. Rohit has already notched up over 1000 Test runs this year and he has not finished yet. The opener scored his eighth Test to which was his first on foreign soil and perhaps the toughest one he scored in his career.
Rohit’s 127 helped India reach 270/3 at stumps on day 2 with Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja unbeaten at the crease. Speaking at a press-conference after Day 3’s play at The Oval, Rohit Sharma said the offer had not come as a surprise to him. He also acknowledged that if he had not taken it, “anything could have happened”.
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“In the back of my mind I knew it was the last chance for me as well, trying another position in the batting order. When the offer came to open the batting, I was very much aware of it because the talks were happening within the management about me opening at some stage. So… mentally, I was ready to take on that challenge, to see if I could do well up the order. I know I batted in the middle order before and things didn’t turn out the way I wanted to but I knew this was going to be my last opportunity, you know, trying whatever the management is thinking. When you are playing a sport you always have to take those chances, those risks… Yeah, you can say that it was my last opportunity, if I hadn’t succeeded, anything could have happened,” said Rohit Sharma at the presser.
The Indian opener further said that he wasn’t aware of his record of this Test ton being his first in overseas conditions. Since he started opening, he has played 27 innings, scoring over 1400 runs at a magnificent average of 58.48. During his knock, he also went past 11000 runs as an opener in international cricket. Rohit also went past 3000 Test runs during his stay at the crease.
Overseas Hundreds, It Was Never In My Mind: Rohit Sharma
“Speaking of overseas hundreds, it was never in my mind. What I was focussing on was following the process… At times, you have to be patient and I think I have done that. I was trusting whatever I was doing all this while, and I was happy doing those things. Sometimes things might not come easy, you have to put those hard yards in, and I was happy to do that” said Rohit.
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