Love playing in Australia, hope the tour happens: Rohit Sharma
India batsman Rohit Sharma said he is hopeful that the India vs Australia all-format series scheduled at the end of the year goes ahead as planned. Speaking to Australia batsman David Warner in an Instagram live session, Rohit expressed his love for playing in Australia and recalled fond memories of the Indian team’s historic victory in 2019. Both teams are set to play 4 Test, 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is towards the end of 2020 .
Coronavirus: The question mark on live sport
The threat of the coronavirus pandemic has put all businesses and sporting activities to an abrupt halt in the last few months. Across the globe, every major tournament in sport is either on indefinite hold or cancelled altogether.
One such tournament is the Indian Premier League (IPL), a huge platform for cricketers from around the world. The postponement of the IPL also raises doubts over the schedule T20 World Cup later this year. However, a string of discussions between the BCCI and Cricket Australia to make things happen have now begun.
“Actually we were quite looking forward to this year’s tour as well. I hope somehow both the boards – the Australian and the Indian board they somehow try and manage to do something and get this series underway.
It’ll be great for the teams as well, but also great for people to start cricket with. It will be a great series for people to watch and a great way to kick off cricket in the world, if that happens,” Rohit said as he discussed the prospects of resumption in cricket services with his Australian counterpart.
Fond memories of 2018-19
The Indian opener also turned back the clock on India’s last outing Down Under in 2018-19, when they became the first Indian team to register a series win on Australian soil. The land of Kangaroos has also been a happy hunting ground for Rohit on a personal front. The cricketer said he loves playing in the country, especially at the larger-than-life Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
“I personally love playing against Australia. Whenever there’s an opportunity to play against Australia, it’s a different feeling. And last year when we won the series, which has never happened before in the history of Indian cricket, it was good for us as a team. I know you guys (Warner and Smith) were missing. But still, what the bowlers did there, what the batters did there was a great boost,” he said.
Both Rohit and Warner spoke about the challenges and importance of being an opening batsman. They also joked about how the ones batting after them grab all the glory.
“People say Kohli and Smith are the best in the world. But we make Smith and Kohli because we take the shine off the ball. We have got an important job as openers,” Warner said to Rohit.
