I Will Be Happy To Bat Wherever The Team Wants Me To: Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma, the stylish Indian batsman, might have nailed the opener’s slot in Test match cricket in the limited opportunities that he has got thus far but the Mumbai cricketer reckons that he is comfortable in batting at whichever position the team-management wants him to.

Rohit Sharma will be one of India’s key batsmen in the upcoming Test series in Australia alongside Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, especially after regular skipper, Virat Kohli returns home following the culmination of the first Test at the Adelaide Oval.

Rohit, who is currently sweating it out at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, feels that the team-management would have already figured out his role by the time he joins the set-up in Australia.

“I will tell you the same thing that I have told everyone all this while. I will be happy to bat wherever the team wants me to but I don’t know if they would change my role as an opener,” Rohit Sharma told the Press Trust of India [PTI]

“I am sure the guys already in Australia must have figured out what are options when Virat leaves and who are the guys who will open the innings. Once I reach there, I will probably have a clearer idea of what”s going to happen. I will be okay to bat wherever they want,” he added.

They will obviously pitch it up, swing the ball’- Rohit Sharma on Australian bowlers possible ploy against him

Australia is renowned for its pace and bounce but according to Rohit, barring the track in Perth, the other pitches on grounds like Adelaide, MCG, and the SCG do not have that much bunce.

“We talk about bounce but except for Perth, over the past few years, the other grounds (Adelaide, MCG, SCG), I don’t think have that much bounce,” Sharma reckoned.

Sharma is one of the best hookers of a cricket ball in the current era but he feels that the biggest challenge for him during the Test series will be to play in the ‘V’ as the likes of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood will consistently pitch the ball up in a bid to extract some movement and bring te keeper and slip-cordon in play during the initial part of the innings.

“Nowadays, especially while opening the batting, I will have to think about not playing the cut or pull shots and focus on playing in the ”V” and as straight as possible,” he said.

”With new ball, whoever bowls, whether it”s Starc, Cummins or Hazlewood, they will obviously pitch it up, swing the ball and the bouncer would be used sparingly,” Rohit said.

“They would try to ensure with the new ball that they would get some movement off the air or off the pitch. With the new ball, everybody in the world loves to bowl up and send down one odd bouncer here and there. So majority of the deliveries will be up and towards the bat and not short,” he reckoned.

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