Rohit savouring every moment of India captaincy

Rohit Sharma wants to savour every moment of his brief stint as India captain, wondering when he would again get a chance to walk out with the team sheet in future.

Rohit's tenure as stand-in captain will come to an end with the final T20 International against Sri Lanka  on Sunday as Virat Kohli will be back in the hot seat for the South Africa tour after a month-long break.

"Since I am leading the side for the first time, there was pressure and there will be pressure when we play next match in Mumbai. I don't know when will I captain the side again, so every minute spent on ground is important for me," a pragmatic Rohit said.  

He has led Mumbai Indians to IPL treble but this stint has made Rohit realise how tough it is to captain the national team with the burden of expectations from billions of people.

"There is lot of pressure, especially after first match in Dharamsala. We were in such a position that we were on the verge of getting all out on our lowest score," he said.

"I thought a lot about my captaincy and team and that it is very difficult. We are representing 140 crore people and there is lot of pressure of that," he said.

It's not brute power but sublime timing with which Rohit produces his big hundreds.

"I definitely don't have so much power. I rely a lot on timing the ball more than anything else. I know what my strengths are as well as my weaknesses. I try to play to the field as much as I can, to be honest," said Rohit.

He clears the boundary ropes with consummate ease, in complete contrast to modern day's aggressive batsmen such as Chris Gayle, who rely on power hitting. Yet he is the only batsman, who has three double hundreds in ODIs and now two in the Twenty20 format.

Asked if he makes any technical adjustment to hit the big shots, Rohit explained his strategy.

"The field is spread after six overs. I try and see where I can find my boundary options. It's important to be able to play with the field," he said.

"I want to score all around the park and not just one area. It's important to explore the fielding the opposition keeps for me.

"In all formats, I try to do that. You can't just hit in one area, you become predictable then. It's always important to score runs all over the field and that's my strength."