I don't have power like MS Dhoni and Chris Gayle, says Rohit Sharma

The Indian opener hit 12 sixes and 13 fours in his 208 not out during the second ODI against Sri Lanka. It was his third double century in 50-over internationals.

Photo Credit: BCCI

New Delhi: Rohit Sharma set the stage on fire with his third double century in ODIs during the second match of the series against Sri Lanka at Mohali's IS Bindra PCA Stadium on Wednesday and later stressed that he relies purely on timing to hit big shots.

The Indian opener hit 12 sixes and 13 fours in his 208 not out. And his second hundred came off just 36 balls.

Talking to the team's chief coach Ravi Shastri in a video uploaded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Rohit said he doesn't possess power like Chris Gayle or MS Dhoni and backs his timing to clear the fence. 

"I know I am not someone like MS Dhoni and Chris Gayle (or) those kind of players. I don't have so much power, but I rely a lot on timing and that's exactly what I did," he said. "My strength is timing the ball. I was just looking to time the ball, get in the line of the ball."

He also credited the team's strength and conditioning coach Shankar Basu."Thanks to our trainer Basu; he has been training really hard with all of us," he added. 

Rohit said he was determined to not throw his wicket away after getting in under overcast conditions, which prompted Sri Lanka captain Thisara Perera to bowl first after winning the toss.

"I kept telling myself unless I make a mistake, I am not going to get out. I want them to get me out; I don't want to throw away my wicket. So that is something that I kept telling and I was quite determined to bat as long as possible," Rohit, who helped India post a mammoth 392/4, told Shastri.

India won the match by 141 runs to level the three-match series 1-1.

"We knew that the conditions were a little challenging at the start of the innings," he added. "Shikhar and I knew once we play out those initial overs, then batting will get easier and exactly that happened. 
I just went through my routine and the partnership was always important."

Shastri then asked the right-hander to pick the double century he thought is the best among the three he has hit now. 

"It's so difficult to pick one of these three because all three have come at crucial junctions of the game and at a crucial time, different scenarios of the game.

"Against Australia, it was the series-decider and the 264, which I got against Sri Lanka again, that was after three months of layoff. I had a finger injury, I was nervous whether I would be able to score runs or not, so all those things were going in my mind," he added. 

"And this one again, having had a loss in the first game we wanted to come back as a batting unit really hard."