Rohit Sharma’s take-no-prisoners style of batting at the start of the innings in the T20 format has proven to be a high-risk, high-reward strategy in the powerplay overs. While it has led to Rohit getting out early in games, it has also yielded rich rewards when it clicks. Now, in an interview, Rohit has admitted that the strategy doesn’t always pay off, but added that he will not be tweaking his style of batting anytime soon.
“Main game nahi change karoonga! (I won’t change my game!) The team has given me a role, I will continue playing that. Milestones wala game nahi hai mera (My game is not about chasing milestones). My focus is on contributing runs. Who doesn’t like making runs? I certainly do! I’ve been repeating this for years now. Pareshaan ho chuka hoon (I’m tired) repeating this same answer. Of course I get disappointed when the runs don’t come when you cannot contribute runs. You hurt when that happens.
“But I don’t want to abandon my game. I know it’s very risky, you will get out. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care that I am getting out or that I am not thinking about how I can contribute more runs to the team cause,” Rohit said in an interview with journalist Vimal Kumar.
This season, Rohit has scored 240 runs in nine innings for the at an average of 30. His most devastating innings came in a nine-wicket victory over the at the Wankhede Stadium, when he walloped their bowling attack for an unbeaten 76 off just 45 balls.
Rohit, who turned 38 on Wednesday, points out that on the five occasions that the Mumbai Indians had won the , there was no one in the team who had claimed the that season. He went on to explain that his goal has always been to help Mumbai Indians win games rather than aggregate a certain number of runs in a season. He pointed at the Indian cricket team’s 2019 World Cup campaign where they had lost in the semis despite Rohit top-scoring at the tournament with 648 runs.
He added that while he liked to take many chances with the bat in the first six overs, he wouldn’t continue that style after the powerplay overs ended.
“Aise hi pagalon ki tarah nahi kheloonga (Won’t play like a madman the entire game). I like to take chances initially because that’s my game for the past few years. Yes, I have not had that much success in it! But I am not too worried about it. If I start doubting myself, it gets trickier. The team has confidence in me. I have confidence in myself,” Rohit added.
