Sachin made me feel comfortable: Rohit Sharma

One day specialist Rohit Sharma said playing alongside Sachin Tendulkar in the first final of the Commonwealth Bank series was a dream come true and that the champion batsman, made him feel at home and guided him during his knock of 66.
“As soon as I came to the crease he (Tendulkar) made me feel very comfortable and gave me some advice. He told me that we had to win the match. I felt no pressure at all. I thought I was batting in the nets,” said the 20-year-old Mumbai middle order batsman.

The youngster said it was his childhood dream to play with the maestro who he has idolised since he started playing. “I was just two when Sachin (Tendulkar) made his Test debut. I never thought that I would play with him and bat with him for so long. I used to always watch him since I started playing cricket. I grew up watching his batting,” he said.

Sharma, however, said even though he has grown up watching and idolising Tendulkar, he would not try and emulate the style of the batting genius. “No one in the world can copy anyone. Everyone in the world has his own style. No one bats like Sachin and he (Sachin) doesn't bat like (Ricky) Ponting. I personally don't feel I need to copy someone,” Sharma said.

On being part of the victorious Twenty20 World Cup and the CB tri-series side in Australia, Sharma said the feeling was great to be a part of both the victories. “It's a great feeling to be a part of these two victories, T20 and CB series. I think it was a great effort from all the boys and it great to part of the victory. Playing in Australia and beating them in two finals gives you a great feeling. Beating them (Australia) in Australia is a remarkable achievement especially with a young team,” added Sharma.

He said the recent racism controversy which involved off spinner Harbhajan Singh and all-rounder Andrew Symonds got the team closer and helped him and the team in focussing more on the game. “Despite all the controversies, we got together, that's (the controversy) what brought us together. Personally, I was just concentrating on my game, what I had to do and what was my job. I was concentrating on that and I think that really paid off,” Sharma said.

He said initially in the series, he found it difficult to play the off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and was unable to pick up his `doosra.' “This was the first time I was playing Murali, he is the number one bowler in the world. It was just that I was unable pick up his `doosra.' This was the first time I was playing Murali, he is the number one bowler in the world. It was just that I was unable to pick up his `doosra' and that was the problem. I went and spoke to senior players like Sachin, Bhajji (Harbhajan Singh), Dhoni and Yuvraj and later I got 70 against these guys (Sri Lanka) in Canberra.”

He said in time he would want to move to the five-day format and was eager to develop his game to bat for long periods of time. “Test cricket will be a priority for me. I want to play Test cricket. But I feel I need some time to get into the team. I have not played much of the four-day game; I need some more time, experience and games to play (well in the longer version). I'll try and get to the Test team as well,” Sharma added.

Speaking about being a part of the Hyderabad IPL team, he said it hurts him that he won't be playing for the team which he represents in the Ranji Trophy. “Playing domestic cricket (IPL) and not for Mumbai hurts me. But I am fine because Hyderabad is also my home town. I am looking forward to this and also playing with Adam Gilchrist and Symonds. I played against them but it'll be different playing with them,” he said.
March 7, 2008