My role doesn’t change in T20: Rohit Sharma

' I have to bat in a similar fashion, make sure I give the team a start’

Ahmedabad: India opener Rohit Sharma has said that while he has managed to tweak his game a bit in the just-concluded series to suit Test cricket, his approach for T20 cricket will remain the same old one where he will look to give the team a good start especially in the first six overs.

Sharma will be playing his first T20 International after over a year and did not tour Australia for the T20s due to injury. India won that series 2-1.

Speaking ahead of the T20 International series that begins at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera from Friday, the right-handed batsman talked of the challenges he faced during batting in the last Test when he had switch to watchfulness.

“When you have to go against your own nature and have to do things that you are not used to, then it is a small win. If you keep doing that again and again then you will gain in confidence. The way I batted, especially in the last Test match, when I made only 49 runs but played 150 deliveries, I felt great. I had to play against my nature,” said Rohit.

“I felt like I should chase the deliveries that they were bowling outside off-stump, but I kept my nature aside and batted. I didn’t play bad shots. To play with discipline was the key. I got out, but was happy. My challenge in Tests nowadays is how many balls I play not how many runs I make. I have to play 100, 150 or 200 balls. That is a small battle within itself.”

The 33-year-old admitted he is not sure with whom he will open the batting with – K.L. Rahul or Shikhar Dhawan. Despite not knowing his opening partner, he says his role remains unchanged.

“My role doesn’t change. I have to bat in a similar fashion, make sure I give the team a start and bat as long as possible. Nothing changes for me. I just need to make sure that if you are batting first, try and give the team a good start in the first six overs, set a target,” he added.

“Of course when we chase, the approach remains the same but the mindset changes because you have a score in front of you, you have to calculate and bring that into your game. For me not a lot changes and I have to just assess the situation.”

Meanwhile Sharma expects Hardik Pandya to contribute substantially with the ball in the T20 series, having seen him do “everything he could” to get back to his best following a back surgery that kept him away from bowling regularly in international cricket.

“Of course he’s been an integral part of the squad. He is been working on his bowling and batting, trying to sharpen those skillset. It’s been good month and a half that he’s been with the team in order to get ready for this limited series,”

He in-form Rishabh Pant is making a comeback to the T20 side following his exploits in Test cricket and Rohit sees the southpaw building on his recent success in the longest format. “He can go from strength to strength. There is no looking back for him. So far he has done exceptionally well from Australia to the home series against England recently, he’s performed exceptionally well,” he said.

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