After becoming the first batsman in history to record two ODI
double-centuries, and breaking the record for the highest score in the
format, Rohit Sharma said he felt it was important "to think" about an innings while compiling it. And that's what he did at Eden Gardens, he said.
"It's important to look at the team score, because that's how you will
build your innings, you need to know where your team stands," Rohit
said, after his 264 off 173 balls powered India to 404 for 5 against Sri
Lanka. "It's important to know what the score is and how many overs
have been bowled, and how many overs of each bowler are left. I think
it's very important to think when you're batting, and that's what I
did."
Rohit was playing his first match for India in two and a half months, having been sidelined
by a finger injury and a shoulder strain. He had shown signs of hitting
the top form straightaway in his return to competitive cricket - the warm-up game
in Mumbai against the Sri Lankans before this series - when he scored
142 off 111 balls. After that break, Rohit joked, he was relieved to get
time in the middle. "After a few months' break, so I'm not really
tired, I was ready to bat another 50 overs," he said, adding that the
pitch made it necessary for him to not throw away his start.
"But yeah, jokes apart, I was determined and dedicated to getting a big
one. Once I got to fifty, I knew that I had to convert, because it was a
good batting wicket. The scores here, even 300-350, are easily
chaseable. We wanted to get a big score and that made me stay there as
long as possible."
Getting going, he said, was not the easiest, but he was determined to
fight it out. "The initial part, the first 10-15 overs were not easy.
Coming back from an injury, playing after two months, I was feeling a
little out of place. The free-flowing strokes were not coming as
naturally as it comes to me, but I wanted to get stuck in the middle and
that required a lot of dedication and determination.
"I kept telling myself that no matter what, how many balls I play, I
need to stay there because I know I can [make up the scoring rate] any
time. That was the idea.
"Luckily the quickfire 30 [28 off 24] from Ajinkya Rahane helped me to
settle down. It helped me take my time, because after an injury coming
and giving it away was not the idea. I just wanted to make it count."
Rohit was out off the final delivery of India's innings, and that gave
him great pleasure, he said. "The fact that I went on to play 50 overs,
that was really pleasing to me because I've been working on it, to bat
as long as possible. So finally to do that was really good."
Did he know when he broke the record 219 scored by Virender Sehwag then? "I knew he got 219 because when I scored 209
the last time, someone said I had missed the world record by 10 runs.
But while batting I was not looking at that, which is why you must have
seen on TV also, I was a little surprised when I saw my team-mates
standing and giving me an ovation from the dressing room. I was a little
surprised as to what happened, but then I realised I must have
surpassed the 219."
When asked if he would go after a triple-hundred next, he laughed,
saying: "I will try my best to get there, but as of now I will take
264."
And 264 should be enough to top the charts in ODI cricket for a long
time, stand-in India captain Virat Kohli said at the post-match
presentation. "Today is the kind of day I can tell my kids I was there,"
Kohli said. "I don't think this record is getting broken anytime soon."
This was Rohit's first ODI at Eden Gardens, and he pointed out that it
seemed to be his lucky ground. "Very special ground to me, I made my Ranji Trophy debut here, my Test match debut here [and] got a 100, got a hundred in IPL
as well, and now this. A lot of memories here, which will remain close
to me, and this one was really special." The Cricket Association of
Bengal, which was celebrating 150 years of Eden Gardens, agreed that it
was really special, announcing a cash award of Rs 2.64 lakh (US$ 4300
approx) for Rohit after the game.
