New Delhi: It was going to arguably be his last time in Australia and it could go either way – he could send out a loud reminder that his best days are still not past him or it could end up hastening his exit from international cricket. But the thing about Rohit Sharma is that he will surprise you.
And so in his Australian swansong, he finished with a powerful statement: that it is far from over for him. 11kgs lighter and far more relaxed, Rohit finished as the player of the series having scored 202 runs in three matches including the unbeaten 121 in Sydney.
Rohit attributed the success in the three-match ODI series to the manner of his preparation. He worked with Abhishek Nayar, the former assistant India coach, to get back to peak fitness.
“Since the time I started playing, I never had four to five months to prepare for a series, so I wanted to utilise that. I wanted to do things in my own way, on my own terms, and that actually worked out well for me, understanding what I need to do for the rest of my career,” Rohit said in an interview to BCCI.tv.
Despite playing competitive cricket for the first time since IPL 2025 in May, Rohit was able to adapt rather quickly. He was dismissed for 8 in the first ODI in Perth but bounced back in the next games, scoring 73 in Adelaide and 121* in Sydney.
“It was important to utilise that time because, like I said, I never had so much time, and I prepared well back home. There are differences between conditions here and back home but I have come here so many times, so it was just about getting into that rhythm.”
“I give a lot of credit to the way I prepped before coming here, giving a lot of time to myself first. That was very important because sometimes you need to understand that there is so much to do in life besides what you do professionally. But I got a lot of time in my hand, and so I utilised that,” he added.
Rohit cherished the unbeaten 168-run partnership with Virat Kohli, who too was playing for the first time since IPL. “I enjoy playing in Australia, today also… to get a big one and get the team through. When we started to bat, obviously, it was a bit of a challenge with two new balls, the pitch was slightly misbehaving at the start and we knew that once the shine of the ball is off, it will get a bit easier.
“Fantastic partnership (with Kohli) after a long long time. I think we did not have a 100-run partnership for a long time. It was good to get that partnership from a team’s perspective, looking at how we were placed at one point.”
He added: “(Shubman) Gill got out a bit early, and we knew with (injured) Shreyas Iyer not being there, there was an added responsibility on batters. We enjoyed every moment we spent out there, there was a lot of chatter between the two of us. We have played so much cricket together. We understand each other really well, so much experience between the two of us and we used it pretty well.”
It will be a short break before the duo get back on the field. They next face South Africa in a three-match ODI series that begins on November 30.
