Have to understand what your strengths are: Rohit on batting in England

The summit clash of the World Test Championship featuring India and Australia at the Oval is only a couple of days away, and the hype and expectation is undoubtedly building up for the marquee clash. 

Ahead of the high-voltage final, the Indian skipper shared his insights on the challenges of batting in English conditions. "In England, in general, it's pretty challenging conditions for batters. As long as you are prepared to have a good grind, you can have success," Rohit Sharma said in an event with ICC. 

"You need to keep concentrating for longer periods of time, and you will get that intuition when it's time to take on the bowlers. More importantly, you need to be out there, and you have got to understand what your strengths are."

"If you're going to play, this is something that you have to come up with mentally. You got to be adaptable and adjust whatever little tweak you need to do in your technique. 

"But more than that, I think it's just talking to yourself and getting mentally ready. A lot of the other guys in the squad haven't done that because we've got a lot of new faces in the squad as well," he added. 

The right-handed batter also highlighted India's win against Australia in the 2020-2021 series away from home as one of the best moments for the team in the WTC cycle. 

"I thought the way we played in Australia was probably the top highlight, I would say. After losing the first Test match in Adelaide and then coming back to win, that shows the strength and the depth of the team as well because we had a lot of injuries on that trip. I wasn't part of the first two Test matches."

"I was part of the third and fourth ones. I know as a team what we were going through. So, a really tough time, but we held our nerves. Like Pat just said, we came out on top, but there was a lot of groundwork that happened behind the scene as well."

"A lot of the young players stepped in and turned things around for us. A lot of senior players were missing on that trip, and that was certainly the best we played outside India," Rohit added.

The 36-year-old also stated that the players are upbeat about the final and will look forward to going a step ahead after falling agonisingly close to New Zealand in the inaugural edition. 

"It keeps challenging you. You want to be in these situations. You look forward, and as a person, it brings the best out of you. In the last 3-4 years in Test cricket, we have had good success."

"Now it is about crossing that final hurdle and giving that confidence to youngsters so they can play in the way they want to play," he concluded.