Rohit Sharma eyes Kiwi polish

Mumbai: India batsman Rohit Sharma says his team are confident of replicating their recent performance against Australia in the upcoming three-match ODI series with New Zealand, beginning here on October 22.

“They had a couple of good practice games here. They got used to the conditions I’m sure about it. But yes, it will depend on how we start and what we want to do as a team. We would like to (continue) from where we left against Australia,” the flamboyant opener told reporters before the first training session of the squad at the Wankhede Stadium.

“We would like to continue to do that and the good thing is, there is hardly been any time between the Australia series and the New Zealand series, so guys are in their grooves. I hope we put up the same performance as we did in the last series against Australia,” he added.

Sharma though admitted that “every new series has its own challenge”, he said: “The greatest strength of this team is that we treat each series at it comes. Every opposition have their own strengths and weaknesses. So the challenge for us will be to adapt to that opposition quickly.

“We played against Australia (and won 4-1) and they had different team dynamics. New Zealand has different team dynamics. So the strategies will revolve according to that.”

Sharma, who was the top run getter against the Australia with 296 runs at just over 59 per innings including one hundred and two fifties, said that the team’s strategies won’t change much from the last year, when they defeated New Zealand 3-2 in a five-match series.

“We played these guys last year in India, during similar time and their team is also more or less very similar to what we played. As far as the strategies and planning are concerned, it won’t change much from last time around,” said the 30-year-old Mumbai batsman.

Happy with his personal form, Sharma said he has now got into the train and does not want to get down. “You feel good when you score runs, the last few years especially it’s been really good. So in that space I am quite happy right now, but the hunger (for runs) will never go, you will take every series as an opportunity and go out and perform the same. For me, every series I play, I feel it is the first game of my career. I want to keep going.” The Kiwi team has left-hand pacer Trent Boult and Sharma admitted that it would be challenge to face him. 

“For us as batters it will be a huge challenge to face a left-arm seamer and come good. Boult, being one of their prime left arm fast bowlers, it gives us a challenge,” Sharma, who has amassed 902 runs in his last 15 ODI innings at close to 70 per knock with three hundreds and as many half tons, said. Sharma also said that the entire New Zealand bowling attack looked competitive.