The veteran Indian opener, Rohit Sharma reckons that the belief of the skipper Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri in his abilities has helped him own the opening position in Tests. He also credited his own perseverance for the magnificent run so far. Rohit scored 529 runs in his “debut series” as an opener with help of a maiden double century in the final Test against South Africa apart from twin hundreds (176 and 127) in Visakhapatnam.

The performance earned Rohit the man of the series award. During the post-match presentation ceremony, Rohit said, “The support of the coach and captain helps. I am thankful for the opportunity to the management for that opening slot.”

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There were some rumors of a rift between Rohit and Kohli a couple of months back. However, Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri have already rubbished the conjecture. An opener needs to have a certain amount of patience and discipline, which is something Rohit has instilled when he started opening in white ball cricket.

Sharma further added, “Yeah, it’s something that started in 2013 when I started opening in white-ball cricket. I realised you need some discipline at the start of the innings. It’s a template to my batting that allows me some success to my batting.”

The stylish Mumbaikar reckons that it is only his mistakes that can get him out once he has done the hard work to survive the first hour.

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Rohit concluded, “I believe that I can do for the team, and there are lots of aspects that you need to be mindful of when you’re opening. I always believe that once you are in, it is only mistakes that can get you out. We saw how hard it was to counter that new ball, and once you pass that stage, it’s all about how you want to pace yourself. I kept telling myself I want to be there, I want to get a big score and take my team to a good position.”