Rohit Sharma drops 'wanted to throw my wicket' bombshell on his aggressive batting in SL ODIs

India's Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma has spoken up on his batting approach in the ODI series against Sri Lanka which enabled him to be the highest run-scorer of the series. Rohit was in terrific form with the bat and scored runs in all the matches.

In three ODIs, Rohit Sharma scored 157 runs in three matches at an average of 52.33. But the talking point was his strike rate. The India captain scored his runs at a blistering strike rate of 141.44.

While Rohit looked comfortable at the crease, his modes of dismissals fueled a question if he really needed to take those risks. In all the matches, Rohit was dismissed while trying to take on the bowling attack.

Also read: Salman Butt issues 'spin-bowling' warning to India, exposes Gautam Gambhir's major 'Suryakumar Yadav' blunder after IND vs SL ODIs

Rohit Sharma breaks silence on his aggressive batting intent

While speaking at the post-match press conference, Rohit revealed his game plan of scoring quick runs in the powerplay. Rohit mentioned that he did not intend to throw his wicket away but instead wanted to make full use of the powerplay.

"My personal effort was to ensure that I score as many runs as I could," Rohit said in the post-series press conference, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. "It was not as if I wanted to throw my wicket away after the powerplay," Rohit was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

"I wanted to continue the momentum and intent, but I unfortunately got dismissed while trying to play a few shots. My batting plan is pretty simple and straightforward," he added.

Rohit Sharma claims runs scored in the powerplay were crucial

Rohit further said that runs in the powerplay become crucial on such wickets where it becomes difficult to bat during the middle overs. Knowing this, he wanted to take early chances and put the bowlers under pressure.

"I knew that the runs that will be scored during the powerplay will be critical. I knew that the wickets will get a little slow after that, the ball will turn a bit and even the field is spread out. When there are only two fielders outside the ring, we had to take our chances," Rohit stated.

"I took those chances whenever I felt that I could put the bowler under pressure. All the runs that you score over and above that, it benefits the team to play the remaining 40 overs," the 37-year-old added.

Indian batters didn't play enough sweep shots, claims Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma further mentioned that the Indian batters did not play the sweep shots enough to disrupt the lines and lengths of the bowlers. He added that Sri Lanka used its scoring shots to perfection and played the Indian spinners well.

"They were consistent with sweeps, taking their chances. There weren't a lot of runs scored down the ground. They didn't use the feet as much as we expected. It was about using sweeps and piercing that deep square leg and midwicket field. That is something we failed to do as a batting unit. We didn't play enough sweeps, reverse sweeps, or paddle sweeps, and used our feet too much. That was the difference," the Indian captain said.

While the other Indian batters struggled to stay at the crease, Rohit looked extremely fluent both against pace and spin as he made excellent use of powerplay restrictions. In the third ODI where India lost by 110 runs, Rohit Sharma scored a fiery 35 off 20 balls to give India a great start again.

But the middle order failed for the third time in a row as India were bowled out for just 138 runs, thus losing the match by 110 runs. With this win, Sri Lanka clinched the series 2-0 and claimed its first series win over India in 27 years.