Colombo: Captain Rohit Sharma said he never intended to give up his wicket in the Power-play overs, stating that his goal was to get as many runs as possible after India’s ODI series ended in a 2-0 loss to Sri Lanka.
Rohit, who has been playing an adventurous form of Power-play batting, was India’s finest batsman of the series, hitting 157 runs at a strike rate of 141.44 over three matches, including two half-centuries. However, it was in vain, as the Sri Lankan spinners dismissed the remaining batsmen, preventing India from winning the series.
“I knew that the runs that will be scored during the Power-play will be critical. I knew that the wickets would get a little slow after that, the ball would turn a bit and even the field is spread out. When there are only two fielders outside the ring, we had to take our chances.”
“I took those chances whenever I felt that I could put the bowler under pressure. All the runs that you score over and above that, benefit the team to play the remaining 40 overs. My personal effort was to ensure that I scored as many runs as I could.”
“It was not as if I wanted to throw my wicket away after the Power-play. I wanted to continue the momentum and intent, but I unfortunately got dismissed while trying to play a few shots. My batting plan is pretty simple and straightforward,” Rohit told reporters at the end of the tour.
After a 42-day hiatus from international cricket, India will resume play on September 19 when they play the first two matches of a two-match Test series against Bangladesh in Chennai.
The Duleep Trophy will open the 2024–25 Indian domestic season on September 5; meanwhile, some teams will use this month’s Buchi Babu Invitational Tournament in Tamil Nadu to begin their red-ball training.
“That’s always been our goal to make sure that guys who are available go and play the Ranji Trophy. Our domestic cricket is the backbone of our international cricket. A lot of the guys who are representing now for the country have come up playing domestic cricket. So, our domestic cricket is so crucial for everyone.”
“We want to make sure that it stays like that, it stays competitive. We get players from our domestic circuit only, not so much from IPL. When you play Test cricket, when you choose players for Test cricket and ODI cricket, a lot of the discussion happens on who’s doing well in Ranji Trophy, one-day format, Syed Mushtaq Ali and stuff like that.”
“IPL, of course, is one format where the challenges are different. Different teams and different players are playing, and it is a high-pressure situation again for a lot of guys. So it’s a combination of both. To be honest, you have to look at IPL as it is also our cricket. So at the end of the day, whoever does well in all of these tournaments eventually will get picked up,” concluded Rohit.
–IANS
