Rohit remains modest

After scoring a world record 264 off 173 balls against Sri Lanka on Thursday, Rohit Sharma had every reason to sound bullish. But he chose a different path.

Without belittling the magnitude of the moment, Rohit stressed on the need to work harder in the coming days. “Of course, I am happy to get that mark.

But from hereon, I need to work harder as there is a lot of responsibility on my shoulders,” Rohit told reporters.

The genesis of his matured thinking, perhaps, was in the injury-induced struggle he underwent in the last two months or so.

“Yes, the last couple of months were very tough for me. I had to work really hard to regain my fitness, and I need to thank BCCI physio Vaibhav Daga for it. He worked really hard with me, and today I am sure he will be a happy man,” said Rohit.

En route to his 264, Rohit went past Virender Sehwag’s 219 as the highest individual score in one-dayers. Rohit detailed his emotions.

“I knew 219 was the record because last year when I scored that double hundred in Bangalore, someone told me that I missed the record by a few runs. Here, suddenly I saw my teammates applauding from the dressing room, and then I realised I might have gone past that record. But I am also happy that I was able to bat till the 50th over,” he said.

Rohit said he needed to do careful compilation of his innings despite the frenetic pace at which he played it.

“I needed to spend some time in the middle. I was coming back after an injury, so the free flow of shots was not happening. I was determined to stay at the crease and get a big score, and Rahane’s quick knock helped me to settle down as well.”

Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews, who added 118 runs for the fifth wicket with Lahiru Thirimanne, rued the dropped catch of Rohit early in the innings.

“Our bowlers went haywire after the 25th over as India scored well over 200 in the phase. Having said that, we should have bowled with a better planning against Rohit. You can’t give a let off to batsmen like Rohit. It was a brilliant innings,” said Mathews.