Rohit Sharma's brilliant 161 and his 162-run fourth-wicket partnership with Ajinkya Rahane put India in command in the second Test at Chennai that started on February 13, 2021. It was Rohit's seventh Test hundred and the first against England after India won the toss and decided to bat on a wicket that was aiding the spinners from Day 1. India scored 329 in the first innings and England, leading the four-Test series 1-0, crashed to 134 all out to hand India a massive advantage. (Rohit Sharma's Video and match photos: BCCI)
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00:00 Can you just talk about what adjustments you made with regards to playing on this pitch because you are taking turns from day one?
00:13 Yeah, look, we knew about how the pitch was prepared. We knew it was going to turn. So we had a good few training sessions before today.
00:25 And we trained according to what we were going to expect in the middle. So basically, just using your feet a lot more, making sure you sweep the ball.
00:39 And those kind of things, when you play on turning pitches, you got to be proactive. You can't be reactive.
00:47 So, getting on top of the bowler, making sure that you are ahead of him was very, very crucial.
00:56 So, little adjustment based on that and understanding if it's turning, how big it is turning, whether it's bouncing or whether it's keeping low.
01:05 Those were the things that I was thinking about before making any shot-making decisions.
01:15 So, mentally, before the game, I was prepared about what I will be facing once I get in.
01:22 So, I think the preparation really helped in terms of getting out there and playing the shot I want to play.
01:29 Given the team situation and how the ball was turning, how satisfying was the knock?
01:34 And also, apart from using your feet, you played to sweep a lot. Was that a conscious team effort or was that your individual plan to unsettle the England's winners?
01:43 No. Yeah, the first part of your question, yes. It is satisfying to get some runs on the board for the team.
01:52 And talking about my plans, sweeping and all of that, yes. Like I said just now, it was important to be proactive on a pitch like that where you know it's going to turn.
02:05 The shot ball is going to keep low or it's going to bounce. You need to be proactive making sure that before it's too late, you start doing what you want to do.
02:16 And be clear in your mind. You can't be tentative. You can't have two thoughts. If you want to sweep, you sweep it.
02:23 If you want to use your feet and play with the turn, you should be able to do that as well.
02:28 What helped me, I guess, is the preparation I had before the game. All I was trying to do is the things that I just spoke.
02:40 Using the feet, playing with the turn, making sure I sweep the ball, understanding the line they are bowling.
02:46 Mohin Ali especially, he was trying to bowl in the rough. So, there is a very slight chance that you might get LBW.
02:55 Ajinkya's dismissal was slightly unfortunate that he missed the full ball. Otherwise, there is not much chance for the bowler if you are trying to sweep the ball from the rough.
03:10 Because I saw the fielder, Deep Squareleg was also back. Even if I top-edged it, it's going to land in the safe place.
03:17 So, those were the ideas and those were the thoughts behind the plan that I had today.
03:23 And then, when Leech was bowling, he was bowling stump to stump. So, it was important for me to use my feet, play with the turn, not with the straight bat facing towards him.
03:33 With the turn slightly angled, making sure I push the ball between covers and point. And rotating strike was also important which I think we did pretty well.
03:43 Once you rotate strike, it's not easy for the bowler to keep bowling to different batter all the time.
03:49 Considering yourself as a satisfied Indian among all your hundreds, considering the condition, the quality of attack, everything taken into account,
03:58 why did you rate this 100 and was it a conscious effort to score like very quickly in the first session?
04:04 Taking the pitch in several hundred runs was scored in the first session.
04:08 No, nothing like that. I mean, I was just playing to the merit of the ball. I didn't play any cross-batted shot, to be honest.
04:17 I just wanted to play to the merit of the ball and making sure that the intent is there.
04:21 When you are playing on a pitch like that which might do something every ball, you have to have that intent of scoring runs, rotating strike, using your feet and all those kind of things.
04:32 I am not going to rate any of my knocks because that's not fair. Every knock comes under different pressure.
04:39 And this certainly was under different circumstances. So, I am not the person to rate any of my knocks.
04:50 I am happy to get the runs for the team, making sure that the team gets into a comfortable position.
04:56 So, those are the thoughts that I would like to have.
05:02 Yes, it was important for us to bat as much as possible in the first inning and get big runs in the first innings.
05:12 Because we know it's going to wear and tear from day 2, day 3 onwards. It's not going to be that easy.
05:17 So, it was important for us and important for me as a set batsman to bat as much as possible.
05:24 We have seen that it's not easy for the new batter to just come and keep scoring runs.
05:28 So, little disappointed to get out like that. But again, happy that the team is in a good position right now.
05:39 Yeah, my question was supposed to be on the sweep shot. You have already spoken a bit on it.
05:44 But if you want, could you elaborate further on it? You negated the half with that sweep shot.
05:50 Could you elaborate a bit on it?
05:53 Yeah, of course. Look, I have seen Mohin Ali bowl a lot. He actually bowls very well in the rough.
06:03 And sweep shot is something that can frustrate a bowler if you are playing that shot really well.
06:10 If you play that shot, there is not much the bowler can do from there. Or the pitch can do from there if you are trying to connect the ball.
06:20 And I thought it was a safer option to take as well because both the fielders were on the boundary.
06:25 Like I said, even if it top-edged, it's gonna fall in the safe place.
06:30 So, those were the ideas and those were the thoughts while I was playing those shots.
06:36 And I thought it was a percentage shot to play as well because he was bowling outside off-stumps.
06:40 So, no LBW. LBW doesn't come into play.
06:43 And there was odd ball. He was bowling on the stumps which I wanted to use my feet and try and cover the spin.
06:51 And get my feet towards the ball and reach towards the ball.
06:55 Yeah, pretty much it. How I was thinking about batting today against the spinners.
07:03 (Question)
07:20 Ajinkya is one of our top players. He has done extremely well.
07:27 He has played some crucial knocks. He has shown time and again that when a team needs a batsman to stand up, he has done it many times.
07:39 And even today, it was a crucial partnership for us because we had lost 3 wickets before lunch.
07:45 And the time he came to bat, it was a crucial time for us to build a partnership.
07:51 We have seen that when a team needs runs, he has shown his batsmanship and made runs in difficult times.
08:02 I don't understand why there is a discussion.
08:07 But anyway, his knock was very important for the team at that time.
08:16 And our partnership was also very important for the team.
08:19 And we brought the team to a comfortable position.
08:27 Because I think we will get a good score on this wicket with 350 runs.
08:34 And we still have 4 wickets left.
08:37 So we will hope that the batsmen who are batting now, Pant and Akshar,
08:44 make this run a little longer and try to make it as long as possible.
08:50 Because we know that this wicket will start to get a lot of runs from the 2nd, 3rd and 4th day.
08:56 And there are a lot of rough patches there.
09:00 So we have to make the run as long as possible in the first inning.
09:04 Towards the later part of your partnership with Ajinkya,
09:09 I think we heard from the Stamchem that you suggested him to play some sweep shots.
09:14 Was it something that was advised or something?
09:17 We couldn't make it more. Can you elaborate more on what was that?
09:20 We were constantly chatting about it.
09:22 When we were playing Seamer, Ajju was telling me that I am ahead and you can also be ahead.
09:29 When we were playing Spinner, I was sweeping the spinners roughly.
09:34 I told him that it's a good option to sweep because you can't be an LBW player from there.
09:40 So sweeping is a good option.
09:42 Because he played 2-3 balls in the air.
09:48 I told him that I think sweep will be a better option.
09:53 So you might as well play that.
09:57 It's a percentage shot on that pitch and the bowler bowling that line.
10:01 So yeah, we chatted a lot and talked a lot.
10:08 That's why the long partnership was important.
10:14 Because we were chatting constantly and making sure that what we need to do as a batter in between was important.
10:22 So I think that chat was very important for both of us.
10:26 We played a lot of cricket together.
10:28 We played a lot together. So we understand each other's batting.
10:31 So yeah, I think it helped us.
10:35 Rohit, you were playing with the spectators of the Super Bowl in India.
10:41 How did you express your feelings there, playing with the spectators?
10:46 Yeah, spectators.
10:47 It was great fun to have them at the ground.
10:49 I mean, it is something that livens up the whole atmosphere at the stadium.
10:56 At the ground, the first game was little, where there was no one at the ground.
11:02 I would say the intensity was slightly low from both the teams.
11:07 When you have people coming to the ground and cheering, it's nice to have the crowd.
11:13 It was nice to have them around.
11:15 So yeah, it's been a long time since they have come and watched a game in India.
11:22 And I am happy that they witnessed some good cricket today.
11:26 Another four days to go. I am sure they are going to enjoy the next four days as well.
11:31 So yeah, it was good to have them.
11:33 [Music]