MUMBAI: From ending the ICC trophy drought in June to becoming the first captain from India to lose three consecutive Tests at home, Rohit Sharma has had a rollercoaster of a season so far. After the defeat against New Zealand in Mumbai, which completed the 3-0 clean sweep (first-ever in the history of Indian cricket), Sharma took responsibility for the loss and admitted he hadn't been at his best which cost the team dearly. While he is not sure of playing the first Test against Australia in Perth, Sharma wants the team to focus on what lies ahead and is hopeful that the team can replicate a similar kind of performance from their last trip Down Under. Excerpts:
On shot selection of batters
It wasn't up to the mark, starting from me. But the only thing I would say is that when you are chasing a target like that, you want to try and put the pressure on the bowlers. You can't allow bowlers to bowl on one particular slot. You have to try and do something about it. I played a bad shot, yes, but I don't regret it because that (the pull) has given me a lot of success in the past so I will continue to do that. Every now and then, I will reflect on what I need to do as a batter. But I accept it. We were just not good enough with the bat. We didn't apply ourselves. There were a lot of mistakes that were made.
On his captaincy
I made a decision about batting first on that Bangalore pitch, which was not right. I made certain tactical errors also. Those decisions didn't go my way. You obviously take chances with those decisions. Sometimes it comes off, sometimes it doesn't. And this time around it didn't come off. I was not at my best (in terms of leadership) and probably cost us the series as well.
On his & Virat Kohli's form
Obviously, it's a cause for concern without a doubt. If the batters are not performing, that is a cause for concern. But what's done is done now. As a player, as a captain, as the team, we all have to look forward and see how we can correct what we didn't manage to achieve here. There is a good opportunity for us to go and do something really special in Australia. Yes, without a doubt, we do understand the importance of this series. But just right now, it's just trying to understand what we didn't do right, and what we need to do better as a team.
On youngsters' preps for the Oz tour
It's going to be very, very challenging (changing mindset from conditions in Mumbai and Perth). We do talk a lot about the game and all of that, but sitting with every individual and telling them what needs to be done or how you need to get your mindset right is something that is going to be challenging for us because they come up with a certain mindset, certain thinking about their own game. It has given them success in the past. But, we all understand that Australia is going to be a different ballgame. But for all the young players who haven't been there before us, it will be important to create an environment where they feel comfortable and don't get intimidated by where they're playing and who they're playing against. They all are quite smart about their plans. So, I expect them to come really, really good in Australia as well. There's too much expectation from our team but we want to try and keep things very simple and focus on what needs to be done on that particular day.
On forgoing practice ties
Rather than a practice match, we planned a match simulation kind of a thing with India A. We are travelling with a squad of 19 players and it was only three days that were allotted to us. I don't know how much workload we can get done in those three days in terms of getting everyone prepared. The team management feels that we'd rather have a match simulation where the batters can spend more time in the middle and then the bowlers can also bowl a lot of balls. That is something that we, as a team, feel more comfortable doing rather than playing a practice game because game time is not a problem. All of us have been playing a lot of cricket. It's just about spending time in the middle. We want to maximise these three days, and I feel this is the best way to do it where the batters can have a lot of time in the middle and the bowlers at the same time can get their workload in terms of getting the number of balls bowled in the middle.