Make hay while the sun shines: Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma feels cricketers shouldn’t complain about burnouts, given their short career spans.
“Cricketers have limited careers, we cannot play until the (age of) 60, 70. We have to make the most of the time we have. There can't be excuses of burnout, tight match schedule and so on,” said India’s limited-overs opener on Thursday.
“We are all used to tight schedules. It is not happening now, it has been happening for a while now. We all understand how to take care of our bodies and there are specialists (physios/trainers) to help us out. Because of the schedules, you see a lot of rotation happening. Whenever we play a series we have to make sure that the guys are 100 per cent fit and the trainers take care of that.”
India will face Australia in a five-ODI, two-Twenty20 International series starting on September 17 in Chennai. After the clash against Australia, India takes on New Zealand and then Sri Lanka, also at home, before traveling to South Africa.
However, Rohit welcomed the packed calendar. Having suffered a thigh injury last November which put him out of action for several months, the batsman welcomed the chance of more cricket.
“I am coming back from an injury. I don't see myself doing that (taking a break), I want to play as much as possible. Whenever I get the opportunity I want to be there on the field," said Rohit.
Rohit, who was named vice-captain for the first time for India’s limited overs squad in Sri Lanka, had a good run with the bat, scoring 302 runs including two centuries and a fifty in five ODIs. He hoped to continue the same form against Australia too.
"I will be happy if I can come up with the same performances as last time. Things have changed, team dynamics have changed. The venues will be different. I have to start afresh and not think about what happened in the past. I will be happy to get the same performances out again," he said.
Last time, in 2013 when Australia toured India, Rohit scored 491 runs in five ODIs, including his first double-century in the format, in a series India won by 3-2 with two games being abandoned due to rain.