Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar heaped praise on Rohit Sharma for his recent improved performances both at home and overseas as a Test cricketer, saying the Test vice-captain has done most of the work on his mental aspect and it paid him off abundantly.
Early on in his career, Rohit wasn’t seen as a red-ball batter, but the 34-year-old has silenced all his critics ever since he began opening in Tests, and even he ended up as one of India's most consistent batters in the longest format of the game this year.
The right-hander had a remarkable home Test series against England, finishing as India’s highest run-scorer with 345 runs in 7 innings before scoring 129 runs in two matches to help the side retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia earlier this year.
He also amassed 368 runs in eight innings, including a century in England. His consistency in the traditional format saw him appointed as vice-captain of the Indian Test team ahead of the South Africa tour, but the opener was ruled out of the series with a hamstring injury.
Tendulkar told renowned journalist Boria Majumdar on the show ‘Backstage with Boria', “It is mental. When you start telling yourself 'this is something that I'm not gonna do', (it will be) the first thing you're going to do. I would much rather say that try and give yourself a message on what you're expected to do and what you want to do, instead of what you shouldn't do.”
He concluded, “It's all about positive reinforcement; the positive energy flowing in your body reflects. Your movements are fluid, you're not tight. Nervous energy can be picked by position; it's like a man-eater when it knows there's prey around, it pounces on. That's exactly what the bowler does to a batter.”
