"In England, You Never Feel In But...": Rohit Sharma's Admission Ahead Of WTC Final

His only Test hundred outside the sub-continent came at the Oval in 2021 and India captain Rohit Sharma says one never feels "in" as a batter in English conditions but somehow develops an intuition as to when to attack the opposition bowling. Ahead of the World Test Championship final against Australia starting Wednesday, the Indian skipper, who has enjoyed the best batting average in his team (50 plus) since the inception of the tournament, feels that there is no substitute for hard grind on English tracks.

"Look, I think, in England in general, it's pretty challenging conditions for batters. As long as you are prepared to have a good grind, you can have success," Rohit said during an ICC event 'Afternoon With Test Legends' here on Sunday.

Rohit, who was India's best batter in four Tests in 2021 against England, spoke about his personal experience while seated alongside Pat Cummins, Ross Taylor and Ian Bell.

"One thing I realised in 2021, you are never in (set) and the weather keeps changing. You need to keep concentrating for longer periods of time and you will get that intuition when it's time to take on the bowlers. More importantly you need to be out there and you have got to understand what your strengths are," the skipper said.

For someone who is big on data and analytic, as one has seen him with Mumbai Indians and Team India over years, Rohit feels that knowing the scoring pattern of former players, who have had success at the Oval, won't be a bad idea.

"I am not going to try and emulate them (successful players) but it would be a bit nice to know their pattern of scoring. What I have found out at Oval is that the square boundaries are pretty quick." Switching formats for over a decade now, Rohit knows it's hard