I am more match-aware now: Rohit Sharma
ROHIT Sharma is a busy man these days. Within a week after leading Mumbai Indians to their second IPL title, he was busy preparing for his engagement. Sharma is all set to fly to Bangladesh where India will begin a new chapter in Test cricket post MS Dhoni era. In a chat with The Indian Express, Sharma talks about his recent success, his relationship with Ricky Ponting, and how match awareness is the single-most important thing that he has learnt from captaincy. Excerpts:
Two crucial events have happened in past two week in your life.
Yes, a IPL win and then my engagement. We always knew that we have good IPL side. If we manage to play as team we knew that the results will be in our favour. We had look out for right combination. There were a few new domestic cricketers in the side and I hadn’t seen them before. I didn’t know what is their strength, how they play. As we progressed ahead in the tournament, I got to know each one of them better. Once you know what these domestic cricketers bring to the table, you can go for actual planning. It is very important to know each one of them very well because IPL is such a format that every year we see some new faces in the squad.
How long did it take for you to grow comfortable with the new players?
As a captain it’s my duty to know their strength and read their mind, and find out what they can do for the team. I always used to keep talking to these guys and wanted to know more about them. For instances, what they want to do, what is their aim? In pressure situation what they will do? I used to have casual chats with them, I never gave this impression that I have come for some important talk. It used to be normal conversation, but at the same time my purpose was set.
There is so much pressure in these two months of IPL. How do you try to get the best out of your players?
You have to just leave them alone, don’t put too much pressure. One needs to give a free hand, only then these young cricketers will open up because as a youngster I have also gone through the same route. When I was making my way in senior side I knew what I wanted. I just wanted a free hand from coach, captain and team management.This is how I look at it, we need a good and healthy atmosphere in the dressing room so that everybody gives their best.
How did Ricky Ponting help you?
Ponting is vastly experienced and we all know what he brings to the team. I met him before the IPL and made our plan for the coming season. How we need to treat all players and what is the kind of work needed to be done with them. Sometimes it backfired, but that happens, you cannot be always right. We also committed some mistakes but we realised it. Our main job was to create an atmosphere where these youngsters go and play their game freely.
What is your style of captaincy?
I back myself in whatever decision I take. Even in this season I didn’t change my style of captaincy. As you play more, you will learn more as captain. We play so many teams in a year, I look at how they plan. We play against different captains, they all have different mindset. When we bat we see how other captain is trying to do things, what bowlers he is bringing, how different things he is trying. Since 2013 I have kept learning, I knew some day or other I would lead. And I was well prepared for it. I didn’t want to land in a situation where I say, captaincy mil gaya. Ab kya karein kaise karein. As a player I kept learning that in this situation we should bring that batsman, or in that situation how that bowler should not be bowling.
Did captaincy bring out the best in you?
Captaincy brings more match awareness. As a player you don’t think much about planning, but once you are leading, you are more aware of what are the things that need to be done. I think the most important thing which has come in my game is awareness. What I need to do know? How shall I take my game forward. If there is situation that I need to play my two overs and then play my shots. You learn a lot when you lead a side whether to bring that bowler or not? How shall I break this partnership? These are things which keep running in the head constantly.
Did you and Ponting ever had any difference of opinion?
These things do happen, everyone is not same. He (Ponting) will have different opinion at times, I will have different opinion. He was very comfortable to do what I wanted to do as a captain on the field. He used to give me a free hand. He is always available to give me suggestions and he was never shy of telling what he felt. Which is very good sign, to have such a coach who is always honest and gives you the opinion which is required at that point of time. He will say whatever he feels and than he will leave it on me to decide on what I want to do. He never forced me to pick any player. Instead, he would give ideas, say, when two left arm spinners are bowling, we should send out a left-handed batsman. He used to give me time to think on it because he felt I should be comfortable about each decision I took. His whole style of coaching is to keep the captain comfortable. He has played so much cricket and was captain before, so he knows what is the mindset of the each captain. The last thing a captain wants is to be uncomfortable on the field when he walks out with his team mates.
India will be playing one Test in Bangladesh. Do you see it as a new beginning for this young side?
Yes it will. It will be first time when we will have no senior player in the side. It will be a great challenge for all us to carry forward from here on. Some of us have played 30 Tests, some just 20. It is important to leave our past behind and look ahead. The past two Test series have not gone our way, but we all have learnt something from it. We fought in each game and tried to be aggressive.
Your thoughts on the new Test captain.
I have been playing with Virat since the time of his debut. Only once did he go through a bad patch, and that too in England. He came strongly after that. I have never seen a player like him and what he has done in this limited time speaks volumes about the hard work he has done to achieve it. He brings a different energy to the table. I like his aggression and we saw how he led the Indian side in Australia. Now the onus is on him to carry forward the Indian legacy, he has to show us the way ahead. And I am confident he will.
Now we will have new core group that includes you, Ajinkya, Dhawan, Vijay and Pujara?
The onus is on all of us to deliver. Test cricket is a different ball game altogether. We have played some good cricket and we all have different styles of play, which is good. We know the fact that we will have someone in the side who will rise to the occasion, but one need to be patient too. We are a developing side and I am confident we will do well ahead.
As a player how will you remember MS Dhoni’s Test legacy?
He has been a remarkable captain and everyone knows what he has done for the Indian team in the past several years. He has been of a great help for all of us and has always maintained the atmosphere of the Indian dressing room happy. He has always led from the front.
How is your journey in Tests going?
There is still a long way to go for me in Test cricket and I am working on it. Doing well in IPL is fine, it is a competitive tournament but Test cricket is what matters for me now. I have been talking to Ponting about it too, about how to excel in Test cricket, how he approached his game. He told me that he kept learning every day. I’m working hard and I know that If I continue to work hard, I will achieve my goal in the coming days.
