Rohit Sharma all set for Test debut
Rohit Sharma all set for Test debut
Rohit Sharma is all set to realise his dream of becoming a Test cricketer today. He has been selected in the Indian XI to play South Africa in the first Test to be played here.u00a0 The Mumbai batsman will take the place of VVS Laxman who hasn't fully recovered from the finger injury he sustained while fielding during the first Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong last month.
Dream come true
"It's a dream come true," Sharma told MiD DAY. Is he feeling the butterflies in his stomach? "I am not feeling any butterflies as such, I just want to go and play my natural game," said the dashing middle-order batsman, who captained the Indian Board President's XI in the tour game against the South Africans.
Sharma rose to prominence with a sterling performance in the inaugural ICC Twenty20 World Cup which India won. He has played 41 one-dayers, but has been out of favour since the ODI series in West Indies in July 2009.
Asked how tough it was to be out of international reckoning? Sharma said: "It was not difficult because every cricketer goes through such phases. You have to be mentally tough to overcome such things."
It's been a long time since a Mumbai player has broken into the Test team. And, former India and Mumbai captain Ajit Wadekar, who is here to watch the Test, was naturally thrilled to hear about Sharma's selection. "Looking at the future, somewhere down the line you had to tap a player like Sharma. The most impressive thing is his temperament. He has got a lot of runs in domestic cricket which shows he has the capacity to play long innings. He is now matured enough to play Test cricket," said Wadekar.
The former India middle-order batsman advised Sharma not to get subdued because it was his first Test. "He need not be subdued because it's his first Test; he should play freely."
Wadekar believes Sharma would be ideally suited to bat at the crucial No 3 sot in the absence of Rahul Dravid. "I would prefer that Sharma bats at No 3 because he is more experienced at international level than M Vijay. He knows what it takes to play at the international cricket. Also, the No 3 has to be an attacking batsman as his role is to see that the bowler doesn't get on top," observed Wadekar.
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