Rohit Sharma, as a Test opener, made his return in whites with a bang, as he was the main architect of India’s massive 203-run victory over South Africa in the first Test of the three-match series at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium on Sunday (October 6).
The 32-year-old scored 176 runs in the first innings followed by a 149-ball 127 in the second innings that helped India to set a target of 395 for South Africa to win the Vizag Test.
Chasing the target, the Proteas side managed just 191 thanks to Mohammed Shami’s 5/35 and Ravindra Jadeja’s 4/87 to continue their debacle in the longest format of the game in India.
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Before the Vizag Test, there were a lot of talks about the Mumbai batsman’s ability to play Tests and even many critics were disbelieving on whether he succeeds as an opener. However, the opener shut all critics with his record-breaking show in Vizag and he said that talks never bothered him, saying he has protected himself with a shield around him for a long time.
Rohit told media at the post-match press conference in Vizag: “I have protected myself with a shield around me (to avoid negativity) for a long time now. All those things... what happens outside doesn't come inside that shield. What people say and what people think of me doesn't really bother me. Eventually, I have to play my game and enjoy my game.”
He continued, “What happens outside... I never thought about those things. When I was young, I never thought about what people will talk about me. Now that people are talking, I have protected myself with shield and that shield is strong. Nothing comes past that.”
Meanwhile, Rohit was on the record-making spree in Vizag as he became the first batsman to score hundreds in each innings of his maiden Test as an opener, while only 6th Indian batsman after Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, and Ajinkya Rahane to hit twin hundreds in a Test match.
Having hit 13 maximums in Vizag, the right-hander also went past Wasim Akram's tally of 12 and set a new world record for the most number of sixes hit by a batsman in a Test match.
However, the batsman doesn’t want to look much at the records, as he just wants to enjoy his game and have some fun while living his dream of playing cricket for his country.
Rohit signed off by saying, “It was a dream for me to play cricket, I am living that dream. I have said this many times, I'm not here for records. I just want to enjoy my game, that's all I can say. I know it might be boring. You can think 'this guy keeps talking about the same thing again and again'. But that's what it is. Honestly, I can't say it's the most special... your first Test is always special. Yeah, so my first Test is still very special.”
Noteworthy, India has now taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with a massive Vizag victory and they will be next heading to Pune for the second Test match starting from October 10, 2019.
(With India Today Inputs)
