Rohit had to 'open up all sides of the field' to counter St Lucia breeze

“I thought right from over number one, there was a strong breeze blowing across. But they changed their plan, trying to bowl against the breeze,” Rohit said on the host broadcast after earning the Player-of-the-Match award. “So I had to open up the other side of the field as well. Need to be smart. Like I said, we need to be smart when we play. And that is something that I was backing myself to do.”

Rohit also highlighted the need to “not just be one-dimensional” when being challenged by the conditions.

“You’ve got to understand [that the] bowlers are smart as well. They’re going to not bowl into the breeze a lot,” he said. “So you’ve got to open up all sides of the field, [and] not just be one-dimensional. And that is something that was going through my mind all through. I was thinking to hit the ball everywhere possible. And when you keep an open mind and not think about just playing one shot, you can open [up] and access all sides of the field. And that is something that I was trying to do.”

“Look, it’s been a good wicket. And that is something you want to do as a batter – when you see the wickets are good, you want to try and back yourself to play those kind of shots,” he said. “And I’ve been trying to do that for a few years now. So, yeah, I’m glad that it came off pretty well today.”