Rohit Sharma opens up about his exponential rise in limited-overs cricket

Rohit Sharma has reached a level of development, especially in the One-Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) format, where he can be easily regarded as one of the best, if not the best. He has performed spectacularly well in those formats and according to his own account, it has not been an easy process. He also restates that his growth is a result of hardwork and not natural ability. He also speaks about his thrill of being an opener and facing the first ball in an innings. He also spoke about the work been done behind the scenes in Indian cricket. ALSO READ: Rohit Sharma: Shikhar Dhawan and I can match Sachin Tendulkar-Sourav Ganguly pair About his penchant to pace an innings to near perfection, Rohit said to Times of India, "It's not coming to me naturally but I'd like to put it as natural progression. It's coming, I guess, after playing the amount of cricket I've played now. I'm learning from my past mistakes and trying to correct them as I move forward. Experience at the international level has probably taught me what it takes to go out there and get a hundred or to build an innings or to win a game." Rohit feels the grinding tours of England, South Africa and Australia proved beneficial to the batsmen even though the results were unpropitious. "These were very tough tours. Now, if you keep aside what happened result-wise, there was a lot that our batting unit got to learn. There were challenges in front of us, bordering on the extreme - conditions, opponents, attacks. We were a group of youngsters looking to learn, and in that context, we were looking to take all that in our stride and move forward. The one thing I remember clearly is how all of us wanted to learn from those experiences. They made us stronger," Rohit said. Rohit duly acknowledged the roles of Ravi Shastri, Sanjay Bangar and others who are working behind the scenes. "The support staff and individuals like Ravi Shastri have made a lot of difference to this side. They've given us the space to go out there and express ourselves. A lot of credit goes to Sanjay Bangar, as well. He's been doing a lot of work behind the scenes, spending lot of time with batsmen, creating a positive environment," Rohit said. As an opener, Rohit is often faced with the challenge of facing the first ball, but the elegant batsman enjoys the situation. "I really love to face that first ball of an innings. Ask the opposition questions - 'What do you have for me?' It pumps me up - the whole idea of the bowler marking his run-up, popping at the crease, the crowd chanting, nerves building up. It's a very good feeling," Rohit said.