“Until the last year or the year before, we had these tours of Australia, South Africa, England which tested our skills and brought us to a point of realisation. These were very tough tours. Now, if you keep aside what happened result-wise, there was a lot that our batting unit got to learn.

“There were challenges in front of us, bordering on the extreme - conditions, opponents, attacks. We were a group of youngsters looking to learn, and in that context, we were looking to take all that in our stride and move forward. The one thing I remember clearly is how all of us wanted to learn from those experiences. They made us stronger,” Rohit told ToI.

Rohit also added that the freedom to express themselves on the field has made this Indian batting line-up fearless, wanting to go out there and achieve the best result for the country.

“I really love to face that first ball of an innings. Ask the opposition questions - 'What do you have for me?' It pumps me up - the whole idea of the bowler marking his run-up, popping at the crease, the crowd chanting, nerves building up. It's a very good feeling. Right from the first ball, I know I have to be at the top of my game. You don't know what's coming at you. You're facing Steyn, you know you're going to be dealing with serious pace. You're facing Morkel, you know you're going to have to deal with the short stuff. I love analysing whether I'm going to be in a position to play my favourite shot, pull or hook, or just lay low for a while before I can begin to do that. It's a mind game and I love it,” the Mumbai lad told ToI.

“Yeah, I know. That's what they keep saying. But a lot of work goes into it. It's a result of experience and a lot of effort that's been put in to improve as a batsman. In any sport, nothing comes easy. No matter how talented you are or naturally gifted you are, there's no substitute to hard work if you got to maintain standards,” Rohit said.