Rohit Sharma: The noise is always going to be there

Rohit Sharma in full flow against England at Lord’s on Sunday. Pic/Bipin Patel

Acutely aware but dismissive of the "noise" around his future in international cricket, veteran Indian batting star Rohit Sharma says he knows that speculation won't stop till he is playing, but he would rather focus on scoring runs instead of fighting it.

With a facile 138 at Lord's on Sunday, Rohit could not prevent India's 27-run loss, and didn't look his usual self, possibly trying to mask the insult and hurt he must have felt. "The noise, since I made my debut, was there. Till I am going to stay here, it is always going to be there, so it doesn't really matter too much," the 39-year-old told BCCI.TV.

"What really matters is what I do on the field, try and contribute to the success of the team. That's where all my focus is. Let the noise be there, if there is no noise, there is no fun. My job is inside, their job is outside, that's how I look at it.

"My job with the bat is to come and play, represent my country, that's what I have been told to do since I made my debut, so that's what I am going to do," added the man, who is within touching distance of 12,000 ODI runs.

Rohit did admit that it was disappointing to lose the series after starting off with a win in Birmingham. "Little disappointed with the result as I thought we were playing good cricket. How we started off in Birmingham, we played good cricket. We fell a bit short in Cardiff with the bat. Here it was a massive total to chase," Rohit said.

747
Total runs scored by India and England on Sunday - the highest match aggregate in an ODI at Lord's

138
No. of runs scored by Rohit Sharma on Sunday - the highest score by an Indian vs England in England

8
No. of centuries by Rohit Sharma in England - the most by a visiting player

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