My job is with the bat: Rohit Sharma dismisses ODI retirement talk

Rohit Sharma has dismissed ODI retirement speculation, saying outside 'noise' doesn't affect him. His focus is on contributing to the team's success. This came after his magnificent century against England at Lord's, despite India's series loss.

India opener Rohit Sharma has brushed aside speculation over his ODI retirement, saying "the noise" surrounding his future does not concern him as long as he continues contributing to the team's success. In a video shared by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday following India's ODI series defeat to England, the veteran batter made it clear that outside chatter has never influenced his approach to the game.

'The noise doesn't matter'

"My job is with the bat. Come and play, represent my country, represent the team. That's what I've been told to do since I made my debut. So that's what I'm going to do. You know, the noise since I made my debut was there. And till the time I'm going to stay here, it's always going to be there. So it doesn't really matter too much," said Rohit.

"What matters is what I do on the field, try to contribute to the success of the team. That's all my focus is right now. And let the noise be there. You know, if there's no noise, there's no fun. My job is inside; their job is outside. So that's how I look at it," he added.

Record-breaking century at Lord's

The comments came after rumours surfaced that the third ODI at Lord's could mark the end of Rohit's ODI career. Instead, the 39-year-old responded in the best possible fashion, producing a magnificent 138 off 110 balls to become the first Indian batter to score an ODI century at the iconic venue. His 34th ODI hundred, laced with 17 fours and five sixes, also became the highest individual ODI score by an Indian against England in England, eclipsing his own unbeaten 137 at Trent Bridge in 2018.

Disappointment despite personal milestone

Despite the personal milestone, Rohit admitted he was left disappointed after India fell 27 runs short while chasing a daunting target of 388, handing England a 2-1 series victory. He said, "A little disappointed with the result because I thought we were playing really good cricket. You know, how we started in Birmingham, we played some really good cricket. We fell a little short at Cardiff with the bat; actually, it was not enough to score on the board."

"And then here, again, there was a massive total to chase. We tried everything we could with the bat, but again, we fell 20-25 runs short with the bat. Again, when it comes to bowling, you've got to understand these guys haven't played a lot of ODI cricket. You've got to give them some time. But yeah, hopefully we can learn from this game, take it into our stride, make sure when we come across a situation like that, we try and better ourselves," he added.

Rohit also reiterated his fondness for touring England and said, "I love playing in England. There's no doubt about it. The atmosphere, the ground, the pitches, when you turn up here to play any sort of format, it challenges you in different ways. And that's what, as a cricketer, you want; you want to be challenged all the time."

On batting with Gill and Kohli

India appeared well on course during the chase as Rohit and captain Shubman Gill added 147 runs for the opening wicket before Rohit stitched together another 113-run stand with Virat Kohli. Reflecting on batting alongside his long-time teammate, Rohit said, "We played our entire career together [referring to Virat Kohli], so it was nice to have him in the middle. You know, we've had a lot of partnerships. It's always fun batting together. We understand each other so much. And yeah, it's always nice in the middle, bouncing off ideas, trying to see what we can do. So there was a lot of conversation that was going around in between when we were batting."

England had earlier posted a record 387/3 at Lord's through Ben Duckett's 141, Jacob Bethell's 91, Joe Root's unbeaten 74 and Jos Buttler's 41 not out. Although Rohit, Gill (77) and Kohli (74) laid a solid platform, India suffered a dramatic collapse from 304/2, with Sam Curran claiming four wickets to seal the series for the hosts.

'Focus on collective effort'

Looking ahead, Rohit stressed that the team must focus on collective improvement rather than individual performances. "I had my time in the middle. I enjoyed it. But again, like I said, a little disappointed with the result. We couldn't finish off the game and get the result in our favour. But yeah, we have to move on from this and try to see how we can get better and see what better we can do as a group, not just individuals. It's about the collective effort from the group that is needed, and that's what I think the team should be focusing on," he concluded. (ANI)

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