If there was any flaw in Rohit Sharma's hundred yesterday, it didn't have to do with his batting. Sharma was at his aggressive best at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium against the touring Australians en route only his second first-class century. It was just the timing of the innings that he would have wanted changed. A few days before Wednesday's selection meeting for the first two Tests against Australia would have been perfect.

Peril

Sharma came in with the Board President's XI in peril. S Badrinath ushered in his Test selection in the worst possible way trudging to two off 21 balls before falling lbw to Peter Siddle. There may have been some argument about the veracity of the umpire's decision but there was no doubt what kind of innings Sharma had to play to get back in the reckoning after not being selected for the Australia Tests. He didn't impress during the one-dayers in Sri Lanka though.

Grit

He showed grit early on, resurrecting the innings with a steely 61-run partnership with captain Yuvraj Singh (29). If Yuvraj was the senior partner in that stand, Rohit had to play that role soon after. And he did a fantastic job of it, guiding Virat Kohli in a stand of 146 runs for the sixth wicket.

"This was the crucial partnership for us, especially after Yuvraj fell. We (Yuvraj and him) had played well till he got out. But Virat and I knew that the Australians would want to preserve their frontline bowlers for the Tests so we took it easy against them and attacked the newcomers and the spinners," Sharma said.

Sharma and Kohli were out for 105 as BP XI scored 371 for six after Day One of the warm-up match.

'For myself'

Asked whether this was an answer to the selectors for dropping him despite not being tested in the Sri Lanka Test series, Sharma said, "This innings was not for anyone. I only wanted to prove to myself that I can score runs. If I do this then I'll make the Test grade sooner or later.

"Selectors have to do their job and I mine. I have done my job and hope to keep playing like this."

As for Badrinath, he preferred not to watch Sharma's hundred. Instead, he had a knock in the nets as the Mumbai lad was approaching his ton. Perhaps, it was a sense of guilt for not being able to vindicate the selectors' faith in him or maybe Badri was just getting his basics right.

Did Srikkanth's chat make a difference?

Chief selector K Srikkanth felt Rohit Sharma's innings was a good sign for the future. "I would not like to particularly point out Sharma's ton because both (Kohli's too) the hundreds are a good indicator that we have a strong bench. I am extremely pleased with the way the two youngsters have performed against the mighty Australians," Srikkanth said. The chief selector was spotted at the team hotel the night before speaking to Yuvraj Singh. He later asked Sharma to meet him in his room. When asked what the chief selector told him, the Mumbai batsman said, "It was nothing special. He just told me to keep getting runs."