Rohit 'tormented' by Tendulkar exit

Cricket365
November 16, 2013

Batsman Rohit Sharma has conceded India will endure a period of "torment" after the retirement of the veteran Sachin Tendulkar.

Tendulkar's 200th – and final – Test match drew to a close on Saturday, when the hosts thrashed the West Indies by an innings and 124 runs inside three days at the Wankhede Stadium.

Tendulkar scored a parting 74 in India's lone innings, but it was centuries from the right-handed Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara and a 10-wicket haul from spinner Pragyan Ojha that sealed the result.

"The team won, so I'm happy, and since I've contributed it's all the more nice. But there's one thing that we're going to be tormented by for the next few days, that from now on Tendulkar will not play with us. This will keep on coming back to our hearts again and again," said Rohit.

"His presence in the dressing room will really be missed. It's not just about batting, it's about a lot of things that you need in yourself to succeed. All those things will be missed.

"I don't know how the team members are going to react to the situations which we'll be confronted with now on, now that we finally know that he will not be with the team any more. We need to get over this very quickly, but I don't know how we're going to do it."

Sharma was named Player of the Series on the back of outstanding tons in Kolkata and Mumbai. He, too, is likely to move up the order in the wake of Tendulkar's exit. Pujara will probably remain in third position, with the talented Virat Kohli arriving to the crease at five for the upcoming series in South Africa.

"I'm not at all thinking about that. What he has done for Mumbai cricket, Indian cricket is huge. I've just started my Test career, there is a long way to go," added Sharma.

"I just want to enjoy my time in the middle, whenever I get an opportunity I'll try to do well. I'm really not thinking about what I have to do if I have to replace him. There's still a long way to go, my career is just two Test matches old."

The Indians and Windies will contest three ODIs later this month, the first of which will get underway at the Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Thursday. The Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam and Green Park in Kanpur will host matches two and three respectively.