#dnaExclusive: I don't think I am talented, everything I've achieved is through hard work, says Rohit Sharma

In Sri Lanka, you scored 202 runs in three Tests. In fact, only captain Virat Kohli aggregated more runs for Team India. How would you judge your performance in the series?
The series was good from the team's perspective. We won a series in Sri Lanka for the first time in 22 years. Also, the last time we won a Test match was at Lord's in July 2014. Since then, we played three more in England, four in Australia, one in Bangladesh and one in Galle. So that's nine Tests without a win. So, it felt great to finally win a Test after 13 months. Incredibly, we went on to win the series. So, to lose the first Test and win the next two was special. As a team, that was a huge challenge. The players were under pressure to perform. But, in the end, we managed to do something remarkable. Not many teams have done that.

You have been playing Test cricket since November 2013. Virat Kohli has been the skipper for about 10 months now. How have things changed since. There's a lot of talk about playing aggressive cricket...
I don't see any difference, really. It's just that the mindset of the players is different. This is a young group comprising players with different attitudes and different mindsets. This is how we used to play five years ago, too. Perhaps, you didn't see too many emotions back then. This young group is more expressive. We have been given a free hand to do what we like provided we do the job properly. It's still early days about how we are doing as a team. So, all I can say is that we are going in the right direction. Our bowling plans are falling into place. So is our batting and our fielding. The individuals are stepping up and taking responsibility. There are little things that we expect each other to do. For instance, a batsman who is set is expected to make a big score and a bowler who is bowling well has to make sure he rips through the opposition line-up. The kind of stuff Ishant Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara did in the final Test against Sri Lanka was brilliant. Those are the kind of performances we expect from each other in this team.

You hold the record for playing the most number of ODIs (109) before playing Test cricket. In other words, you waited a long time to wear that Test cap. Your debut was special. Your second Test was also special. But since then, you have scored just four fifties and no hundreds in 23 innings across 12 Tests. Naturally, you have been criticised by the media, commentators and the fans as well. However, the captain and team director have put their force behind you. How do you deal with all this pressure?

I don't think I need anyone's force behind me to ensure that I am part of the squad. If I deserve to part of the squad, I will be in the squad. If you look at my statistics, which I never usually look into unless people force me to, I see that I average 37 after 14 Tests. It's not that bad. Somehow I feel — it's there ever since I started playing and I am sure it will continue to be there — that people expect a lot from me. Every time I go into bat, they expect me to get a hundred. That's too much to ask for from one person. People need to be more realistic. Commentators, like the term suggests, will comment on anything they feel like. That's their job. They have to talk. If they don't talk, somebody else will come and talk. I don't bother about all these things because, honestly, it's not going to help me. What's going to help me is staying focused and working hard on my game. I need to concentrate on what I need to do. As you rightly said, I was the second-highest run-getter for India in Sri Lanka. Yet you guys are not happy with me. I am not a superhuman, but I am expected to play like one. That's what everybody wants to do. OK, you may continue to do so. I will just try and enjoy my cricket.

You have batted at No. 3 in three Test matches (Sydney, Fatullah and Galle), scoring 111 runs in five innings. How different was the challenge? And what did you think when you were asked to bat down the order in the last two Tests in Sri Lanka?
See, it's not my call. I bat where the team wants me to bat. It's a team game.

What does this team expect from you?
They expect me to play match-winning knocks and win games. They expect me to do what I do best, which is bat at any position and score runs.

But the same team asked you to drop down to No. 5 after just three Test matches. Ajinkya Rahane took your place and scored a hundred in the second Test. Cheteshwar Pujara, who had warmed the bench for a few Tests, opened the innings in the final Test and scored a hundred. Where does all this put you in the scheme of things before the first Test against South Africa in November?
I can't predict what's going to happen. That's the captain's and coach's job. I have done what I had to do.

If, for instance, every batsman is fit and available, then one of you has to sit out. What if that batsman is you?
Let me remind you again that I am a team man. It doesn't matter if I am in the XI or not. I still represent India. I am still part of the team. And I will do whatever is expected of me.

The fans and the media have a special attachment with you. They are amazed at your talent, natural ability, your two double hundreds in ODI cricket, your success as an opener, your success in the IPL. But, to be fair to you, you also happen to be among the most dissected cricketers in the country. Do you think everyone 'gangs up' against you?
Honestly, I don't know.

Come on, you read the papers. You have your family, your personal team to tell you what's being said and written about you...
Honestly, I really have no time to sit and analyse what people are saying about me.

But you have people who keep updating you...
They are my family. If anything negative is written, they don't tell me. They support me no matter what. Look, I admit you can't hide from the media. You can't avoid all the scrutiny. Eventually, I do get to know whatever is happening in the media (laughs). I am careless when it comes to such things. I care about my cricket and nothing else matters.

How do you deal with all the attention you get? During the Sri Lanka series, you got out to the incoming ball, you got out leg-before, you were bowled, you were caught in the slip cordon. Expectedly, your dismissals were dissected. There was talk that you have a problem against the incoming ball, you don't know where your off-stump is... Do you think your immense talent works against you because people don't expect you to fail?
Firstly, I don't think that I am talented. This 'talent' talk has messed things up for me. I started my career as a bowler. I was never a batsman. All this natural talent, God's gift and all that that you guys in the media talk and write about is unfair and wrong. I have worked on my batting to get here. I used to bat at No. 8. From there, I made my way up. Ask my coach, Mr Dinesh Lad, and he will tell you that I was an off-spinner. People must think before talking. And speaking of dismissals, that's how a batsman usually gets out — to an incoming ball, caught in the slip cordon, bowled, etc.

So you don't believe you are gifted. You weren't born with gifts like playing the ball as late as possible, possessing four or five shots for every ball bowled at you...
Whatever I have achieved is because of my hard work. All these terms like 'lazy elegance' have been coined by you guys. Nothing comes naturally to anybody. Maybe, on TV, it comes across like that. But that's not the right way to judge anyone. One must go deep into the story. One must get to the root of the matter. One must get to the bottom of everything before writing such things. Most reporters who cover cricket don't know I was a bowler. I became a serious batsman during my Under-17 days. I broke the middle finger of my right hand during a 50-over match against the visiting Sri Lankans in 2005. It was difficult for me to grip the ball after that injury. That's how I became a regular batsman.

Were you surprised how easily you took to bating?
Look, there is nothing easy in cricket. Nothing comes to you. People say 'Boss, this guy is gifted and he can do this and he can do that'. But nobody knows what happens behind the scenes. Nobody knows about the hard work that's been put in. Nobody knows what I do to improve my skills and my fitness.

As a batsman, where do you place yourself?
Honestly, as a batsman, there is a lot more I have to do. That's very, very clear to me. Fourteen Test matches is nothing. I have nothing nothing great in Test cricket. This is just the start. In ODI cricket, yes, I know have done well, especially after becoming an opener. Look, I don't talk much about myself. I hate to go on about what I have done, what I have achieved in the form of double hundreds, hundreds and Man of the Match awards. It's there for all of you to see. The statistics are there. Anybody can go and check them out.

Even though you feel that you are called talented and gifted rather unfairly, the fact is that it's part of your DNA...
I don't think so.

But that's what everybody thinks. You are special and you ought to do much, much better...
The standards I set for myself are much, much higher than the standards anyone else can set for me. So, all I need is some space and breathing room to go out and achieve what I need to do for my country and for myself.

We are talking about international cricket. How can you feel bad about being analysed?
My numbers in Test and ODI cricket are not as bad as everyone's making them out to be. Those who know their cricket will know what I have done in Test cricket so far is not bad. Yes, I admit there have been a couple of chances where I could have got hundreds. I missed out on those chances. When I get out to a particular shot, the media says I have thrown it away. When I hit sixes employing the same shot, the media and the fans stand up and clap. A shot that gets me out also gets me runs. I am not going to stop playing a particular shot just because X, Y, Z says so.

Doesn't anybody in the team tell you to curb your shot-making, especially early on the innings and, say, at the stroke of lunch, tea or stumps?
No. Everybody in the team encourages me to play my game. If you tell a batsman to change his natural game, he won't do well.

But there's something called adaptability. In the second Test, you scored a 79 and threw it away at the fag end of the day. In the third Test, you scored 50 after India were reduced to 7/3. However, you lost your wicket at the stroke of lunch. That 79 should have been a 135...
First of all, what do you mean by 'throwing it away'?

'Throwing it away' means to give your wicket away after getting set or getting out after doing all the hard work...
So, according to you, any batsman who gets out on 80, 85 or 90 has thrown it away. I worked hard for 79. Are you trying to say I told myself 'OK, chalo, I am bored. I made 79. Let's get out?' Of course, I felt bad after getting out. It's common sense.

So, what do you do about that disappointment? Do you analyse that dismissal and work on it at the nets?
Of course, but you have to also put it aside and move on. You can't change whatever happened. You can't get those 21 runs to complete a hundred. Look, most of the things that happen in the middle are only known to the batsman. Only the guy facing the ball knows what's coming at him. Just before I got out on 79, I told (Wriddhiman) Saha 'Partner, you know what, the light is fading and I think this is going to be the last over. Let's just play out this over and come back tomorrow'. The idea was to just to block those six balls and back into the dressing room. But I ended up making a big mistake. I thought hard about survival. And what did I do by doing that? I forgot about my natural game, which is anything but blocking the ball. So, I got out because I did something completely different.

Who do you talk to about batting?
DJ (CKM Dhanajai), our video analyst, is someone I talk to a lot about my batting. He has been with the team for many years. He knows me since the day I started playing for India. He knows what goes wrong with me. He has been watching me since 2007. He is just a phone call away. I discuss things with him. He is someone who actually tells me what I should do. He is like a mentor to me. Every now and then, he would send me a picture of my batting stance or my head position in split-screen. He tells me about the technical aspects of my game.

So, the moment he points out a flaw, do you go back to the nets and work on it? Who helps you there?
Mr Sanjay Bangar, the batting coach of the Indian team, is always there. He is very experienced. He genuinely wants us to improve as a batting group. That's something he and the other members of the coaching staff have done since they took over last year.

Do you believe you can get better as a batsman?
Of course I do. Even if I score 10,000 runs, I would want to get better. Whenever I spoke to Sachin paaji (Tendulkar), he would always say 'I want to work on this' or 'This is not working out'. Look, nobody is perfect. Cricket is a game where you will not be perfect till you retire. There's no end to things. There's always room for improvement.

Where do you think you are in your career as a batsman? And what do you think you need to do to reach wherever you aspire to reach?
You can't judge a cricketer just by runs and hundreds. What gives me satisfaction is the number of matches I win for my country. Yes, hundreds matter, but we can count them after I retire. I will sit back, relax and think about all my records and statistics. That will give me pleasure too. But right now, I am bothered about winning matches. I get great joy when I win matches single-handedly. That's my mindset — that of a match-winner. India won this game because of Rohit Sharma's innings. That's what I love to hear. That's what I want to do.

What were the lessons you learnt in Sri Lanka?
That's a schoolboy question (laughs). You learn something in every series. I am happy with my game but I know I have to improve.

You were out bowled and leg-before on a few occasions. In fact, a modest medium pacer like Angelo Mathews got you out...
People will ask such questions even I when get out to a bowler bowling at 140 kph. That way they will say, 'Oh, he can't play express pace'. And when I get out to a spinner, they will say, 'Oh, he can't play spin'. People want to keep saying something or the other. I am happy that everybody thinks and talks so much about me (laughs).

How do you stay relaxed and calm?
Now, that's a natural gift. That's something I was born with. It was given to me from there (points upward) and put in here (points to his head). I know how to avoid attention. Actually, I have never had to work on staying relaxed or calm. Even in the middle, I take my mind off cricket in between deliveries and overs. I don't think about the swing, the wicket or the bowler. I try and take my mind off the cricket. I look at the scoreboard, I look at the fans sitting in the stands, I look at the guy playing the drums. I divert my mind. Look, a lot of thoughts come to your mind when you bat. But as a batsman you are supposed to react to the ball when it is coming at you.

When the Test series against South Africa begins, you may be asked to sit out...
Let the people who are in charge of the team take that call. You and I will do what is expected of us.

How does that preference change in the space of three Tests?
It changed because the team management wanted it to change.

But you were spoken to...
Yes, they said it will be better if you bat at No. 3. After three Tests, they said it will be better if you bat at No. 5.

Then, Ajinkya Rahane played well at No. 3
Whatever we are doing as a team is there for all to see. We are producing results. You can't argue with the team management. You can't spoil the team atmosphere. Maybe they felt Ajju was better suited for No.3. So be it. Whoever is batting well at that point gets to bat up the order. It doesn't mean that somebody batting at No. 6 is a poor batsman. Every position has its challenges.

But where do you want to bat?
That's a good question for you to elicit an interesting headline point but, like I said, it's for the team management to decide. Let me tell you this. For Mumbai Indians, I wanted to open the innings, but we felt that me batting at No. 4 will be good for the team. And we got the results. So, putting your team first and understanding your team's needs is most important.

But the team's needs keep changing?
We have got results. If the captain feels I should move to this position in one Test and to another position in the next match, then why not? We were told this. Nobody was surprised. And this is how it should work. 'No yaar, I can't bat here; put me back up there'. Such talk doesn't take place in this team. This is modern cricket. Things change according to the needs of the team.

Will you tweak your natural game to avoid situations like 79?
To be honest, I did tweak my natural game. I was thinking of stumps, staying not out and going to the dressing room. I was over-cautious instead of being just me. The moral of the story is: Do not tweak your natural game.

The perception is this — why did he play such a rash shot then...
It's like telling Hulk to kill everybody at any cost. And he manages to do that. But I am not Hulk and there is no way anyone can score a hundred every time they walk out to bat.

Are you happy with your technique? Do you have a problem with the incoming ball?
I have to improve on everything. I am not perfect. Even when I get a century, I prepare harder for the next game. My job is not about over-analysing the game. But I can tell you nobody is perfect.

In ODI cricket, you get on top of the bowler. What's your approach like in Tests?
It depends on the situation. At 7/3 in the final Test, I was cautious. Had we lost another wicket we would have been in big trouble.

Did you get enough credit for that 50?
I don't want any credit. In any case, you people write what you want (laughs). Journalists hunt for exclusive stuff. Every journalist wants to impress his editor. So they write what they like.

You are being very harsh...
Really?

But isn't criticism necessary?
Yes, it is. I am not asking for any sympathy.

But it's a country of a billion people. Every knock or spell is analysed because it's cricket. Every second boy wants to play for India. Also, it is said you have got a long rope...
When I made my Test debut, I averaged more than 60 in first-class cricket. Right now, it's 55. The long rope was given purely on the basis of my domestic performance. It's there for anyone to go and check.

Which sportspersons do you admire?
Roger Federer is one. He is a genius. Then there is (Lionel) Messi. Even after achieving so much, Federer is still so calm. That's the best thing about him. I understand a little bit of tennis, so I try and see what he does. Again, everybody says he is naturally gifted. But you don't know what he has done behind the scenes. 'Ah, look at that backhand; it's so natural'. Isn't that an unfair assessment of his hard work? Now, try and step into my shoes and think what I go through. Look, I know everybody wants to stand out but anyone who wants to talk needs to get to the bottom of things first. Of course, I want to have a healthy average in all forms and score as many runs as I can. But it's a team game and it's not about just one individual.

But the times we live in are such. Everything is dissected...
When I started my international career, the problem was inconsistency. When I became consistent, they said he doesn't score centuries. So, I scored two double centuries. And then, believe it or not, they said I must improve my strike-rate. Then, I realised it was pointless. From then till date I'm like never mind (laughs).