'I do what I think is right. What's there to be afraid of?'
Rohit Sharma is still wired to the team despite opting to stand down.
Team India’s senior batter exhorted his teammates to shut down outside noises and rumours and focus on winning the ongoing fifth Test against Australia that will help them retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
India arrived for the Sydney Test trailing 1-2 in the series and their position was made even more precarious by the swirling gossip around Rohit's possible retirement.
"It (rumours) doesn't affect us because the players here are made of steel. We have tried our best to make players like this. See, we can't control certain things, and we don't want to fret about those things. We don't want to waste time on it," Rohit told Star Sports.
"Let it happen (the leaks). What can we do about it? Just focus on winning the match and getting better in our game; that's what we want to do.
"Everyone wants to go there and win the match. Look at the crowd here, look at their involvement. We all want to shut them (rumours) down. Tell me, which other team has won series here twice? We have the golden opportunity to not win the series, but can draw it now. We want to retain the trophy," he added.
I've come here to play, not sit outside
However, Rohit admitted that the decision to stand down from the New Year Test was tough from a personal level.
"Sometimes it is very tough. I have come so far here to play. I have not come to wait outside. I want to play. I have to win. When I came to the dressing room on the first day in 2007, I have always said that I have to win the match. The team has to win the match,"
For him the decision was a part of his trait that always placed the team first.
"Sometimes you have to understand what the team needs. If you don't keep the team ahead then it is of no use. If you play for yourself, make your own runs, what will that do? If you don't think about the team, you don't want those kind of players. Eleven people are playing, so it is a team. Whatever the team's need is, try to do that.
"This is my personal thinking. That is how I have played my cricket. That is how I am in life in general. It is not that I am trying to show something else. What I am is visible. If someone doesn't like it, then forgive me. I do what I think is right. What is there to be afraid of?"
Won't doubt myself because of criticism'
Rohit accepted that he will be criticised if a decision goes wrong but asserted that it will not force him to deviate from his methods.
“In leadership, you have to accept that you will not have good days all the time. Ideas and your mindset are the same. The captaincy that I was doing 5-6 months ago, it is same ideology and thought process. But sometimes, the result does not come," he said.
"I know that 140 crore people will judge us. That is what it is. I don't want to doubt myself. I know what I am doing is right. I don't want to change my methodology about captaincy.
"I can also be wrong. Yesterday, if I decided that I should have batted in Sydney, but actually, I should have bowled. It can be wrong but it does not mean that your thinking is bad."
Asked who can lead India in the future, besides Bumrah, Rohit said: "It is difficult to say. There are many boys. But I want them to understand the importance of cricket first, understand the importance of this place. I know they should be given responsibility. But let them earn it, let them play some hard-fought cricket for the next few years.
"I am there now, (Jasprit) Bumrah is there; before that Virat (Kohli) was there and MS Dhoni was there. No one has got it on a plate. No one should get it like that. Let them work hard. The boys have a lot of talent.
"It is not an easy thing to be the captain of India. There is pressure, but it is a big honour. Our history and the way we are playing cricket is a big responsibility on both shoulders. Let them earn it. They will get their opportunity."
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