Ignored Rohit says he is at peace with his Test career

A formidable force in white ball cricket, India's limited overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma seems to have made peace with his below-par Test record, now that "half of his playing career" is over.

By his own admission, Rohit now doesn't fret over his Test selection and just wants to enjoy the remainder of his playing career.

"There's limited time you have as a player and I have finished almost half of it. There's no point in spending the remaining half thinking whether I'll be picked or not. I am going forward with the theory of 'whatever time I have make it count',"said Rohit about his stop-start Test career.

Despite possessing an impressive record in limited overs cricket, Rohit has failed to justify his talent in the longer format of the game, scoring just 1479 runs at average of 39.97 from the 25 Tests he has played for India.

Due to his inconsistent performances with the bat in South Africa, Rohit has been dropped from India's squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan in Bengaluru starting June 14.

But Rohit doesn't have any complain and said he is now at such a stage of his career where he can't thing about selection.

"For me, I am not at a stage to worry about whether I'll be picked or not. I need to enjoy my game. The first five-six years of my career, it was all about oh, will I be picked? Will I play! Now it's all about enjoying the game. These things keeps adding pressure on you. Instead, it's best to enjoy yourself in what you do and give your best," he said.

"I got into the national team when I was 20 and I made my Test debut when I was 26. I had an opportunity to make my debut in 2010 but I missed that (due to an injury). After that, it made me realise that the more you want, your attitude changes. I have realised there's time for everything.

"There has to be time and a slot available for it. The seniors - Sachin, Rahul, VVS and Sourav - were all playing then so we had to wait. After a point, I realised there's no point thinking about it (selection). No point in thinking about what the selectors are doing and all," Rohit added.

Asked Rohit whether he was surprised by his axing from the Test squad against Afghanistan, he replied: "I was not. As I said, I can only keep enjoying my game. There's no time to regret about anything. I've had enough time to regret in the past. We have got big events coming up, so best to focus on it."
"Selectors can do what is best in their control, players will do what is in their control. It's important to keep focus. When I started playing cricket, there was no white ball cricket. We used to play in school, in age-group cricket with red ball. White ball came much later. As a child, you only saw red ball cricket."