While speaking on BCCI TV after India’s ODI series in Australia, Rohit underlined the value of giving himself time beyond professional obligations. He also thanked Australian crowds for turning up in big numbers throughout the series, while noting that India vs Australia continues to deliver quality cricket even when results don’t fall India’s way.

Rohit Sharma opens up about his time away from the game

“I give a lot of credit to how I prepped before coming here, giving a lot of time to myself first. That was very important because sometimes you got to understand that there’s so much to do in life besides what you do professionally, Rohit told BCCI TV. “I got a lot of time in my hand, so I utilised that. And like I said, I could do things on my own terms, on my own time, which actually helped me,” he added.

Rohit then spoke about the supporters. “Very, very grateful, firstly, to have people standing beside you. Whenever we have played, people have come out and supported not just the two of us, but the entire team. In Australia, the crowd never disappoints. They come out in large numbers to watch cricket because two good teams playing, they want to watch quality cricket. Unfortunately, we could not cross the line with the series, but we enjoyed coming here. Really, really grateful to the crowd for their support throughout Australia. I hope they continue to do that,” said Sharma.

The words from Rohit are a reflection of a player who understands his body, his mind, and his game very nicely. The fact that he utilised his time away from cricket to prepare for the upcoming assignment shows the commitment and dedication of the player towards the game. Rohit walked away from the series as the highest run-scorer and was awarded the player of the series. Notably, he finished the series with 202 runs from three matches at an average of 101 and with a strike rate of 85.59