Indian opener Rohit Sharma, who is currently letting his bat do the talking in England, opened up to Dinesh Karthik in an interview on Sky Sports Cricket. He spoke in detail about supporting youngsters, playing in England, captaining MI and what he is looking forward to in the upcoming month.

Ahead of the resumption of the IPL 2021 season, these excerpts allow us to look into the mind of the Captain of the Men in Blue and Gold and understand him better.

I just need to make the youngsters feel comfortable

“You aren’t born with traits, you learn to become a good human being. I went through things as a youngster that made me so uncomfortable. When people don’t come and talk to you when things aren’t going well, you need people to give you motivation. I would say I didn’t have that a lot. So I feel where these guys are coming from and the situation they are in right now. I just need to make them feel comfortable.”

“I am no stalwart to put my hand around them. It’s just that I know the feel of a teammate or companion showing motivation or support. Someone might be having a bad day and all he needs at that point is just a pat on the back or an arm around the neck asking them to not worry about anything.”

The 2011 World Cup setback was needed for me to improve myself

“It was the worst time. I was desperate to get into the World Cup (2011) team and do something. I know I would be playing in front of my home crowd. And with the team we had, we had the best chance of winning the World Cup and I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to make a difference if I got the opportunity.”

“I don’t want to blame anyone for it. I didn’t have a great run before that, but that setback was needed to improve myself and understand my game better. In a way, it did good. I came back as a different person. I started learning more about my batting, career and what I needed to do from hereon. I changed everything - my mindset, technical aspects of my game, and more.”

“I brought in heaps of mindset changes post that. First was understanding that I was playing for the country. Out of 1.2 billion people at that time, you are playing here and there for your country. I wanted to take this really seriously and say this is an opportunity for me, I must make the most of it.”

I will not sit on what I’ve achieved before, unwilling to put in efforts

“When you are playing a sport, you cannot be lazy.  It is not possible to achieve your goals if you are lazy. I am not someone who will sit on what I have achieved before and unwilling to put in an effort. The only way you can do that is by staying ahead of the game with a clear mindset on what you want to achieve.”

“You have to get on to the ball. When I play that pull shot there is an effort. You cannot be lazy when you are facing a bowler who bowls at 145Km/hr. I don’t think people understand this and they have been saying this from the time I have started playing for India. I have also heard that I have a lot of time and there is no such thing. Everybody has the same time when they are facing a ball.”

“Every batter is challenged when they are facing a bowler. You just have to be on top of your game, mindset to come out on top. Technically you can say that someone prefers to play the bowl late or like to press forward. But there is no such thing as more time or less time”.

It is the best feeling for a cricketer to do good in England

“England is the most challenging place to play cricket. It is seen over the years and also the entire cricketing fraternity talks about it. I have experienced it myself on many occasions over the years. I have played only two test matches in England but I have played a lot of white ball cricket. It is the best feeling for a cricketer when you do good in such a tough situation”.

“I am trying to be in the right frame of mind and not thinking too much. I know what is expected out of me and what I need to do for the team. I have tried to keep things very simple in the last 5-6 years. You will have to keep the right balance in your mind. It's just playing and enjoying time with my teammates'.

We have to take care of our oceans and our animals

“I think about our future generations. What will they have if the world continues the way it is right now? It’s going to be sad and tough for the young kids growing up now. They won’t have fresh air, no ocean to watch the marine life in. We do this right now, we enjoy it so much and I want this to continue.”

“Logically if you think, if my child observes marine life, she will be thrilled, because it is something she loves. We are trying to inculcate all these into her - we’ve to take care of our oceans and the animals. It is important to teach your kids this. When they grow up, they can teach other friends of theirs and that’s how it helps.”

“All I try and do is spread awareness and try and tell people, if you can help, it can be great.”

I learnt to go with my mind when captaining MI

“There’s no guarantee of success just because you think a certain way. But at least, you try. If you succeed, you succeed. If not, you fail. I’ve learnt this through captaining the Mumbai Indians. I’ve been in so many different situations with MI.”

“You have bowlers like Malinga, Bumrah and Mitch, the mind says something but the stat says something else. I always go with my mind and that has helped me. This is how I understood to trust my mind. There will be a voice coming and telling you. But you need to listen to it and trust it to do you good.

“Of course you will fail too, I am not saying you will always be successful. But you will always feel good about trusting your instincts. I’ve had a great experience captaining MI, which I think has helped me immensely, both on and off the field as well.”

It’s all about winning the championship in England now

“I just want us (India) to win, I am not worried about how many runs I’m going to get, or how many hundreds I need to score. I just want to win. It is a great chance for us to win here because we have the team, the squad, the bowlers to take home all 20 wickets, so we just want to challenge their batters.”

“I know they are slightly inexperienced in the middle order with some of the new guys coming in. But they are all good, but this is our best chance to win in England. It’s all about winning the championship now.”

Rohit will catch the flight to UAE on September 15th to join the MI bio bubble from England for the second half of IPL 2021. Here’s wishing him the best for the big cricketing season he is in right now, and has ahead of him later this year!