"Staying ahead of the opposition and trying different things" - Rohit Sharma's success mantra as a batter on rank-turners
India captain Rohit Sharma has opened up on how he has been planning his innings on difficult tracks in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Rohit is still the only centurion in the series, having smashed a brilliant 120 in Nagpur in the first Test.
According to Rohit, a batter backing his strength and applying himself is pretty crucial in tough conditions. He feels every batter has a different method and similarly, he too tries to play an attacking shot every now and then to disturb the length of the bowlers.
While speaking to reporters ahead of the fourth Test, Rohit Sharma recalled his magnificent 161 in Chennai against England, saying:
"When you play on these kinds of pitches, you need to stay slightly ahead of the bowler as well. That’s how I approach my innings. So overall just staying ahead of the opposition and trying different things at the crease.
"Nagpur was a great example of how I wanted to bat in this series. Before this series, we played at home against England, where too I got a hundred in Chennai. Even there, I tried to apply myself and do things that I was good at. So you have to adapt as per your strength and I try and stick to what I do best."
Rohit Sharma on captains losing toss and winning games in BGT 2023
Rohit Sharma was also surprised by the fact that captains who have lost the toss have won the game so far in the Test series. He feels it has rarely happened in India as he believes batting first is always a safe option, with the pitch deteriorating as the game progresses.
On this, Rohit stated:
"I don’t think it has ever happened in India where in first three Tests, captains losing the toss have won the game. But having said that, we have played so much cricket in these conditions. Pitches tend to get slower and wear and tear is a lot more as the day goes on.
"So when you win the toss, you need to make the most of it. We didn’t bat well enough in the last game which cost us the game."
With the pitch in Ahmedabad likely not to be a rank-turner, India will want to bat first and put up a big score to ensure they give Australia no chance of leveling the series.