Indian opening batsman, Rohit Sharma with his brilliant 161-run knock has shut the mouths of his critics during the second Test against England at MA Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday. The Indian opener was the centre of a lot of criticism after a series of low performances. But during the second Test against England, he proved to everyone why he is called the ‘Hitman’.

Amidst the list of 203 batsmen, who have a score of at least 1500 runs at home, Rohit Sharma reached that milestone during the opening day of the second test against England, only one batsman, who after Don Bradman did much better. The Hitman has now seven hundred in 23 innings for India, four of which have been 150-plus scores, and only once he was dismissed for less than 150 after he passed his century.

“We knew about how the pitch was prepared. We knew it was gonna turn and so we had a good few training sessions before the game began and we trained according to what we were going to expect in the middle,” said Rohit in the virtual press conference on Saturday.

“So basically using you feat a lot more, making sure you sweep the ball and those kinds of things when you play on turning pitches. You gotta be proactive. You should be on top of the bowler making sure you are ahead of him was very crucial,” he added.

Rohit hit an exceptional 161 runs bejewelled with 18 fours and two sixes and a rock-solid and important partnership with vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane. The solid duo added 162 runs with fourth wickets before Moeen Ali sent Rohit Sharma back in the 73rd over.

In an interview, the right-handed opening batsman said commanding the bowlers was in his plan on this turning track in Chennai’s M.A Chidambaram. India was already suffering the loss of three wickets during the first session, but Rohit displayed a brilliant batting performance by attacking the bowlers all around the ground for boundaries.

“So little adjustment based on that and understanding if the ball is turning how big is the turn whether it is bouncing or whether it is keeping low. Those were the things that I was thinking about before playing any shot,” said Rohit.

“So yeah, mentally before the game I was prepared of what I will be facing the ones I get in and I think the preparation really helped in terms of getting out there and playing shots,” he added.

With three wickets for India in the final hour of play finished the opening day of the second Test being slightly in the favour of England after Hitman Rohit Sharma’s exceptional knock had made the base for India’s innings up on Saturday.

Team India lost Rohit at 161 runs, Vice- Captain Ajinkya Rahane at 67 runs, and R. Ashwin at 15 in the final hour of the play. At stumps, India’s score was 300/6 with Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel both at 33 and 5 runs respectively.