Indian opener Rohit Sharma revealed that he has made some technical changes in his batting to get success in England’s conditions. Rohit made solid-looking 36 runs in 107 balls, where he scored six fours.
Rohit shared an opening partnership of 97 runs with KL Rahul during the first Test against England in Nottingham.
“Yes, you got to change fair bit and something that I have changed as well, when the ball is moving, when the ball is doing a bit, there are lot of technical aspect of your game that you need to bring in as an opener,” Rohit had said during the post-day press conference last night after the second’s play in the opening Test against England.
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“Playing in these conditions is never easy, but you know you always challenge yourself as a batter to go out and perform when the conditions are challenging, that is something I am trying to do. “I have made some changes in my technique as well. I am not trying to move too much in the crease, trying to stay as still as possible keeping the bat closer to the body.”
He further mentioned such things can add good value to his game.
“All those things that can add value to your game. I am pretty happy with the way I have handled the new ball, the first spell of the new bowlers. But of course in conditions like this, you are never set, never in, you just got to treat every ball as new ball,” he said.
“So you just got to keep telling yourself that every ball is different and you just got to make sure that, you think that way all the time till the time you are in.”
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Rohit coped with some criticism for playing a bad shot just before the lunch break, which resulted in his wicket. This is not the first time that he got out while playing his go-to shots in Test cricket. Ollie Robinson bowled a well-directed bouncer which Sam Curran caught near the boundary ropes.
“Like you said it is my shot, so I have to play shots, as we saw in the first hour of play, we did not get any loose balls and their bowlers were quite disciplined,” he added.
“So, you have to take your odd chances when the ball is there, you got to punish them. Of course, you know, when it’s around the time of close of play, you feel disappointed and that is what I am feeling about it (the dismissal).”
Rohit mentioned England bowlers were disciplined so he had to cash in every given opportunity.
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“But you got to be ready to play your shots as well, because their bowlers are so disciplined, you hardly get anything. So, you got to put the balls away if they are in your area and that is what me and KL (Rahul) did,” he mentioned.
India were at 97/0 and collapsed to 112/4 within no time. James Anderson broke India’s middle-order by dismissing Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli off successive balls. India ended the day at 125/4 and 58 runs behind.
Rohit defended India’s middle-order and said it was a good bowling display from England.
“No, it (the middle order form) is not a concern. I think if you look at how they got out is actually to good balls, so I don’t see a concern in that matter, I just feel that sometimes you have to play according to the conditions and I thought we played the conditions really well to start with,” Rohit said last night.
“But obviously there will be times, the bowlers will come back and then you just got to respond to it. We know the overhead conditions matters a lot and suddenly when it was overcast, the ball started to do a little more,” he added.
