The thought of standing up to Brett Lee’s thunderbolts gave him sleepless nights when he first toured Australia while the pace and swing generated by Dale Steyn was also a big challenge, said Indian cricket star Rohit Sharma.
Among the current lot of bowlers, Josh Hazlewood is one speedster Rohit doesn’t enjoy facing in Tests. The white-ball format vice captain said he will have to be mentally prepared to face Hazlewood when (and if) India tour Australia for a Test series later this year.
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Asked to name the toughest pacers he has faced so far, Rohit said, “One bowler is Brett Lee because he didn’t let me sleep the previous night on my first tour to Australia in 2007, as I was thinking how to play this bowler who bowls in excess of 150 kmph.”
“In 2007, Brett Lee was at his peak. I used to watch him closely and noticed that he was consistently bowling at the speed of around 150-155 kmph. The thought of a youngster like me facing that kind of speed took away my sleep,” Rohit said of the former Australian pacer on Star Sports’ ‘Cricket Connected’.
Rohit said South African pace great Dale Steyn has also given him nightmares because of his ability to swing the ball at great speed.
“I have two retired favourite bowlers who I never wanted to face, one was Brett Lee and the other was Dale Steyn. I never wanted to face Steyn because playing pace and swing at the same time was a nightmare, it was just unreal.”
Since making his debut in 2007 as a precocious talent, Rohit has gone on to become one of the world’s most prolific batsmen, and is famed for his exploits in limited overs cricket as an opener. He has racked up 29 ODI hundreds and six centuries in Test cricket, besides four three-figure mark in the T20 Internationals.
“Currently, someone whom I don’t want to face in Test cricket would be Josh Hazlewood because he’s disciplined and does not move away from that length. He does not give you loose balls,” he said.
“I have watched him enough to understand that. I know for a fact that if I have to go to Australia to play a Test, then I have to be mentally prepared to be disciplined while facing Josh,” said the scorer of three double hundreds in ODIs.
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Saying he is not lucky as the Australians to have a house with a backyard where he can have a hit, Rohit said he is managing to get some physical training done in the balcony of his apartment in Mumbai.
“I missing hitting the ball, because you know I like hitting them big and so this space is not enough. I just can’t wait to go out there and start hitting balls again,” Rohit added.
Speaking about the importance of fans in Indian cricket, Rohit hoped to give them moments to cherish soon.
“In the next few years there are three different World cups, hopefully we can win maybe two of them... or why not, all three and give the fans moments worth cherishing.
You can watch the entire episode of Cricket Connected on Disney+Hotstar here.
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