By Abhishek Roy, IANS
Kochi : After hogging the limelight in the Twenty20 World Championships with a matchwinning half-century against South Africa, Rohit Sharma perhaps thought he could have walked into the Indian one-day international squad. But the 20-year-old Mumbai batsman got the nod only after young spinner Piyush Chawla was injured.
“Getting into the first eleven will be tough but I know the day will come.
“There is healthy competition in the team among youngsters and I am also trying my best and hopefully my efforts will bear fruit soon,” he added.
Sharma did not find a place in the original squad for the first three ODIs against Australia after having sat on the bench through the seven-match ODI series in England.
But he surprised everyone in the Twenty20 event, scoring 88 runs in three innings without getting out even once. His match-winning 50 against South Africa helped India qualify for the semi-finals, and he chipped in with a crucial 30 off 16 balls in India’s win over Pakistan in the final.
He had scored eight in his only ODI innings, against South Africa in Belfast last June.
“I have played two ODIs but haven’t done much on either occasion. But Twenty20 was a great experience. And the knock against South Africa will always remain the best in my life.”
But the Mumbai batsman added that he wouldn’t like to be labelled as a Twenty20 player.
“I would never like to be branded as a Twenty20 or a one-day cricketer. For every cricketer, Test cricket is the ultimate dream and I hope I will feature in the longer version of the game very soon,” said Sharma.
“I keep motivating myself for that. And the only thing I can do is be patient and keep performing and wait for my chance,” he added.
For Sharma, master blaster Sachin Tendulkar has always been the idol. And playing alongside the maestro has been like a dream come true for the Mumbai batsman.
“Right from my childhood I grew up idolising Sachin bhai. It is great feeling to play alongside with my role model. But till now I never got a chance to interact with him. The other day I met him at the gym but then also couldn’t interact with him,” he said.
“I would always look to Sachin bhai for tips and it will be a great learning experience for me.”