After being appointed the vice-captain of the Indian squad, Rohit Sharma was elated and spoke to the media about the role and his plans for the ODIs and T20s against the Lankans.
He said that he has some innovative plans to counter the Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga, who is also his teammate in the Mumbai Indians franchise of the IPL.
Rohit Sharma said that every day was a learning day and he was going to learn playing sweeps and reverse-sweeps when Malinga was coming to bowl at him.
He said that the game demands something like this and that one had to try to play different strokes to get the maximum result. The interview was held on the sidelines during a nets session with the rest of the team at Pallekele.
“Everyday is a learning day, today I got to learn something playing those sweeps and reverse-sweeps when someone like Malinga comes and bowls to you. It is something that the game demands these days. You got to be innovative and you got to play different kind of shots to get maximum results, ” Rohit Sharma said.
Rohit Sharma has played international cricket for a decade now, after first representing the country at the inaugural World T20 series, which India won. He played a crucial role and saw himself rise to become one of the mainstays of the Indian top order.
He was handed the vice-captaincy role after having a taste of it during the Champions Trophy earlier this year. He hasn’t been successful in Tests but his limited overs ability is beyond any doubt, with his elegant strokes inducing purrs from some of the best commentators around the world.
Rohit Sharma was planning on adding more shots and was seen practising hard at the nets. He wants to add these shots to stay relevant to the changing dynamics of the game today. He was practising strokes such as the reverse-sweep and sweep to fast bowlers as a way of handling Malinga’s deadly Yorker length deliveries.
It will be interesting to see how Rohit Sharma shapes up for the series, considering there is a long limited overs schedule ahead. If he can set the ball rolling here, India look to be in a good position for the next few months.
