Rohit Sharma Responds to His Axing From India Squad For Afghanistan Test

Rohit Sharma’s Test career started with a bang. Drafted in the team for the series against Windies in 2013 which will be always remembered as the legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s testimonial series,

Rohit managed to steal the thunder for a while. In his first two innings, he slammed two centuries, becoming only the fifth batsman to do so.

However, those two terrific knocks were not the precursor of how his Test career would unfold. Even five years after that memorable debut, Rohit is still struggling to cement his place in the Test team.

While the Nagpur-based cricketer went on to become an integral part of the limited-overs team, his struggle in Tests has left many wondering,

Rohit’s white-ball stats can make any player in the world envious. The right-hander has scored a record three double tons in ODIs, in addition, two tons in T20s. However, his Test career has been completely different. So far, he has scored just 1,479 runs at an average of 39.97 in 25 Tests.

And he recently paid the price for his poor show in whites in the Rainbow Nation. Due to his inconsistent performances with the bat in South Africa, Rohit has been dropped from India’s squad for the One-off Test against Afghanistan in Bengaluru starting June 14.

The star batsman had managed only 78 runs in four innings against the Proteas earlier this year.

But despite being dropped, Rohit Sharma doesn’t have anything to complain about. The limited-overs vice-captain said he is now at such a stage of his career where he can’t think about selection.

“For me, I am not at a stage to worry about whether I’ll be picked or not. I need to enjoy my game. The first five-six years of my career, it was all about “oh, will I be picked? Will I play!” Now it’s all about enjoying the game. These things keeps adding pressure on you. Instead, it’s best to enjoy yourself in what you do and give your best,” he told PTI.

“I got into the national team when I was 20 and I made my Test debut when I was 26. I had an opportunity to make my debut in 2010 but I missed that (due to an injury). After that, it made me realise that the more you want, your attitude changes. I have realised there’s time for everything,” he stated.

“There has to be time and a slot available for it. The seniors – Sachin, Rahul, VVS and Sourav – were all playing then so we had to wait. After a point, I realised there’s no point thinking about it (selection). No point in thinking about what the selectors are doing and all,” Rohit added.

When asked whether he was surprised by his axing from the Test squad against Afghanistan,

He replied: “I was not. As I said, I can only keep enjoying my game. There’s no time to regret about anything. I’ve had enough time to regret in the past. We have got big events coming up, so best to focus on it.”