“I never thought that I would play for India. I was just enjoying my cricket playing for my school and then for Mumbai. Once I was picked for the Indian team, there was no looking back from then.”

From being on the fringes of the Indian team, to now being appointed as the vice-captain of Team India after ten years in international cricket, Rohit Sharma has grown leaps & bounds in the last decade. The announcement came during the third Test as the team prepares for the upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka.

“Firstly, it’s a huge honour to be appointed as the vice-captain. Ten years ago, I was only thinking of playing for India. Being a vice-captain now feels really good”, Rohit said at a press conference, post the clean sweep that India completed over Sri Lanka in the recent Test series, which ended in a comprehensive 3-0 victory for Virat Kohli and his men. “Whenever the opportunity comes, in the first one-day international on August 20, there will be some sort of role I have to play. I’m looking forward to it!“

Despite having never been a part of Team India’s leadership setup, Rohit is more than familiar with the role of captaincy, having led Mumbai Indians to a brilliant, three Indian Premier League (IPL) titles in the last five seasons, since taking over in 2013. Having led by example in the IPL, he feels that he is ready to replicate the same on the international stage. “IPL is a completely different ball game and international cricket is completely different,” he said. “But, yes, the excitement and energy remain the same, so nothing changes too much. In the IPL, I was captain, so I was more in front; here, I have to play a little behind-the-scenes role, but yes, I’ll be very excited to step on to the field as vice-captain of the Indian team.”

Despite having not played a part in the recently concluded Test series against Sri Lanka, Rohit chose to see the silver lining and kept training to improve his game. “Nobody likes to sit out, but it all depends on the team dynamics, and what the captain and coach want, and you have to accept the fact and move forward”, he said. “I kept working on my skills and tried to see where I can improve as a cricketer. You can’t sit here and waste time. All I was trying to do these past three-four weeks was to just improve my skills, see where things are going wrong, and try and strengthen the strengths I have by talking to all the coaches there. They’ve been looking after us for a long time and they know what exactly has been going on with each individual. You always try to improve as a cricketer. It was great to watch everyone displaying their skills and winning 3-0 outside India. Great achievement.”

Speaking after the team’s training session on Wednesday, where the focus was on perfecting the sweep & reverse-sweep shots, in an effort to be better prepared for the Sri Lankan spinners, Rohit said, “Every day is a learning day. Today I got to learn something – playing those sweeps and reverse sweeps when someone like Malinga comes and bowls to you. It’s something that the game demands these days, you’ve got to be innovative and play different kinds of shots to get maximum results. Like I said, you keep learning every day, so I have been trying to see what I can bring into my armoury. Every addition to your armoury is a good thing, and what better place than coming here and doing it. That’s what training sessions are for – to improve your skills and try and get better as a player.”

While the past ten years have had their own share of ups and downs, Rohit is looking forward to learning & improving his skills. He reflected, “There have been so many things in the past ten years that I have learnt. Initially, I used to play too many shots at once. Now, I have realized you cannot be just going and slogging every time – you’ve got to understand the situation, the conditions and all those things. So, that is something that I have learned in these few years with the help of so many coaches around. I will still continue to learn; you never stop learning, that’s the greatest part about this sport – every day you get to learn something and everyday there is something new to look forward to.”

The sky is the limit for the new vice-captain of the Indian national team, Rohit Sharma. He was in great touch when he played ODIs for India during the Champions Trophy. A hundred and a couple of half centuries on his return to international cricket talk volumes about his determination and skill. He was rewarded with much-needed rest from India’s tour to West Indies. Rohit will look to cross new barriers with the new role he has been presented with. The opener will go in with abundant confidence for the five ODI against Sri Lanka.

Quotes from ESPNCricinfo