I am mentally prepared for Test debut: Rohit Sharma

Sydney: India batsman Rohit Sharma says he is mentally prepared to make his Test debut against Australia here should he be picked to replace an out-of-form Virat Kohli in the second match of the series, starting on Tuesday.

"Of course (I`m ready). I don`t want to be unprepared. My preparation has to be 100 per cent. It doesn`t matter if I am playing or not," Rohit said. "Preparation has to always be the same. I have to be ready (to play) each and every time. Because you never know, somebody might get injured on the day of the Test. You have to be ready," he added. Kohli had scores of 11 and 0 in the opening Test and critics have questioned his place in the side. "As far as the team combination is concerned, we have not decided anything yet," Rohit was quoted as saying by `ESPN Cricinfo`. "Maybe tomorrow we will have a better idea as to what the wicket will be like. Probably by tomorrow I will be told whether I am playing or not," he added. Rohit said the morale in the team is "very good". "We really had a good time off," he said. "We had a team get-together yesterday, which was nice. And we got back again today to see how we are going to take it forward.” "We don`t want to think about what has happened. We need to focus on what we have to do now. The process is still on. Hopefully, things will turn around for us," he said. "We spoke about what we went wrong, and what we need to do, and stuff like that. Which always happens, whether you win or lose. That is nothing new for us. As I said, we need to keep doing the right things," he added. Rohit said the Australian bowlers were impressive but denied that the Indian batsmen were "not shaken up". "They really bowled well, we need to accept that. Our batters also batted well in the first innings, but somehow we didn`t manage that in the second. Credit goes to their bowlers." PTI