 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Rohit Sharma has described his hundred against Bangladesh at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday as one of the best tons in his career.
The man-of-the-match, who cracked a 126-ball 137, was palpably elated with his effort.
"I think it will be right up there (on top)," he said. "It was a very important knock from team point of view where the team needed it the most. I think the partnership with (Suresh) Raina was very crucial. He changed the momentum of the game and allowed me to pace my innings. I was determined, I wanted to bat as long as possible and put the team into a good situation," Rohit said.
"Batting at the top of the order, it's important to get big hundreds and I want to make the most of it when I go out to bat and I'm happy with the way it turned out," he added.
'We played as a team and need to do what we're doing'
Rohit said it was just a matter of carrying the winning momentum in the next two matches for India to defend the title.
- The Cricket World Cup like never before, only on Rediff.com
"We played as a team. Bowlers are taking wickets, batsmen are scoring runs, we just need to take this momentum into the semis. We've talked a lot about momentum and how big a part it plays in big tournaments.
"We have two more games to go. We just need to do what we're doing, we're creating big partnerships with the bat and the bowlers are working in tandem as well," said the 27-year-old opening batsman.
Talking about his 122-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Raina (65), Rohit said, "I think the key to our partnership was that we did not play any stupid shot. It was not easy out there so we waited for the ball and once the ball went in the gap it was four. The outfield was really quick."
'The wickets in Australia, especially MCG suits me'
Against Bangladesh, Rohit took time to settle down before playing some exquisite shots to race to a big score and he said Australian pitches suited his style of batting.
"The wickets in Australia especially MCG suits me. One you are settle down, Australia is the best place for batting.
"Everything is coming along nicely for us. Our bowling coach Bharat Arun is working very hard with the pacers and the results are for everyone to see. There is a lot of emphasises on fielding as well," said Rohit.