We talk a lot in the middle and discuss when to take risks, Rohit Sharma on Ajinkya Rahane
BCCI
Rohit Sharma has stated that his discussions with Ajinkya Rahane in between overs and before taking risks were what led to their brilliant opening partnerships against Australia. The Indian opener also believes India have a bright future with a great pool of reserve players at their disposal.
A huge part of India’s 4-1 series win over Australia should be credited to the marvelous opening stands between Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane. The Mumbai boys racked up three 100 plus partnerships in a row for the Men in Blue, which made it a lot easier for the likes of Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav, and Manish Pandey to finish off the matches.
Rahane had to replace Shikhar Dhawan in the opening slot after the southpaw had to return to his ailing wife at the beginning of the series, which led to apprehensions owing to India’s lack of a left-hand right-hand combination. However, things worked out brilliantly with Rohit expressing how much he liked batting alongside his Mumbai mate.
“We have played a lot of cricket in Mumbai. We talk a lot in the middle, we discuss when need to take a risk and when not to. These are the little things that help build partnerships. He played really well in the series and handled the new ball well," he said.
While Rahane made four consecutive fifties against the Aussies, Rohit Sharma ended the series with a whopping 296 runs that included a fluent century in the final ODI. Sharma has been in brilliant form since returning from injury for the ICC Champions Trophy. He was excluded from the West Indies tour but he returned to play in Sri Lanka and scored two successive hundreds and a fifty. Against Australia too, he scored two half-centuries and a classy hundred in the last match.
Reflecting upon his recent form, he said, "It is my job to score runs as an opener. The team really depends on the start that we give. It adds to the success of the team. I just go out and play my game. That is what I am going to do in the future, see the opposition and plan accordingly."
India’s team selection, which saw the side leaving out big and proven names like Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuvraj Singh among others, had received a lot of flak but the 14-man side did a tremendous job nonetheless. Sharma feels that India’s future is in safe hands owing to their quality reserve players.
"This team certainly has a good pool of reserves. Whoever has got the opportunity, has come in and performed. It shows we have got guys who can take up the challenge and perform,” he said.
