India opener Rohit Sharma admitted he was nervous and not feeling confident about his batting on the eve of facing the Sri Lankans in India A’s practice game at Cricket Club of India on Thursday. However, all his fears proved unfounded as the stylish right-hander slammed a brilliant 142 at the Brabourne Stadium.

The 27-year-old was playing his first game after nearly two months, after undergoing a surgery on a finger on his right hand. “I was not feeling confident in the nets, so somewhere there was a doubt on how I would perform. There were a lot of things running through my mind. Will I be able to play a particular shot or not? Will I manage to play cut shot or not? Will I be able to play cover drive or not?” Sharma told The Indian Express, visibly relieved after his comeback ton in the practice game.

Sharma is happy with the way he batted against a decent Lankan attack and says that before going in to bat his intention was only to stay as long as he could at the crease. He wanted to regain his match fitness and more importantly check how he felt about his game.

“It’s not like I wanted to prove anything. I started off slow but I knew that I will take some time to get back into the groove. It’s not easy to bat after such a long time. I was ready to struggle. The way Unmukt was batting allowed me to take my time. I have played lots of games in CCI and I know that if we managed to get past the first eight overs, then the track helps batters,” he added.

India managed a massive score of 382 in 50 overs and Sharma’s blistering innings came in 111 balls which had 18 fours and one six. His innings boasted of all the shots in his arsenal – there were cuts which raced away for fours in the latter half of his innings and Sharma also managed to play drives frequently.

More rest

Post-surgery this was his first competitive game. However, despite scoring a hundred, Sharma has been asked to take 10 more days rest before he joins the Indian team for the fourth and fifth ODI.

Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) picked a squad for Mumbai which will take part in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, which doesn’t feature Sharma’s name. A MCA selector said, “Sandeep Patil is keen that Sharma plays the fourth and fifth ODI so he wanted him to take rest.”Meanwhile, Sharma is planning to take part in a few local games before he returns to national duty.

“I might play a few local games. I always believe that no matter how many runs you’ve scored in your career doesn’t matter. One should always go in with match practice; it is very important. My motto is to go back into the Indian team but at the same time I want to go there with few more games behind me,” he added.