Rohit rates SA ton one of his best

Rohit Sharma shed his indifferent form in the IPL and has begun the World Cup campaign with an unbeaten century against South Africa that helped India begin on a winning note. It was a workman-like innings where he had to sacrifice his attacking instincts. While terming the innings as one of his best, Rohit admitted it was quite unusual for him.

“Yeah, I think it was a massive confidence booster in terms of heading into the tournament,” he said here on Saturday. “All the cricketers in this tournament want to start well, and it gives you that momentum going into the tournament. And yes, particularly talking about that innings, I felt it was not the way I would like to play.

"Something unusual for me, but obviously you have to respect the conditions, at times the bowlers as well, which is probably the reason I would say one of the best I would say. Not the best, but yes, probably one of the best. I would rate that knock amongst the best because it was not the easiest of the conditions,” he explained.

Rohit took it upon himself to finish off the chase and said it gave him immense satisfaction. “Experience teaches you a lot of things, and that is something that has come into my game of late,” he emphasised. “You start the innings for your team, and you want to make sure that you finish off the innings as well. That gives you immense pleasure. And when I did that in the first game, the satisfaction you get finishing the job is something else, rather than scoring a hundred and not finishing off the game.

“My aim is always to bat as many balls as possible and see where I can take the game. And also, the reason I said is because, once I cross a certain score, I tend to just take on from there. But it was not the case in that particular game. I had to see the situation because I knew it was not going to be easy for the new batter to come in and start scoring runs. So, my job was just to be there and make sure I held the one end of our batting unit,” he offered.

Rohit has done well against Australia and averages over 60 against them but said all that counts for nothing on the day of the match.

“Yeah, I've had a good time, but again, I'm somebody who will not look too much into the past as to what has happened. Of course, it gives me the confidence to go into the game knowing that, but for me, that particular day will be important, which is tomorrow. So, I have to be ready and make sure that I get the job done for the team.”