Rohit Sharma seems to fancy his chances as an all-rounder in the Indian team as the talented batsmen has been putting in extra hours at the nets, working on his seam bowling. The Indian team is in dire need of a quality all-rounder, who can help with both the bat and ball.
The elegant batsman wants to speak to India's bowling coach Bharath Arun and further improve upon his bowling. In the recently-concluded series against Sri Lanka as well, Rohit was taking his seam bowling seriously at the nets.
"I have started practising seam bowling at the nets. It's not an old thing as I started bowling seam-up stuff recently at the nets during our Test series in Sri Lanka. I am just bowling seamers and I need to speak to our bowling coach Bharath Arun to see how I can further improve," Rohit told PTI.
India do not have a bank of all-rounders amongst the current crop. Stuart Binny and Ravindra Jadeja, who have been sharing the responsibility of late, are two all-rounders in the team, but their performances have not been up to the mark, not enough to be considered as an automatic choice.
Rohit, who started his career as a bowler before shining with the willow, is well aware of the current needs of the team and wants to add "value" as a third or fourth seamer.
"My idea is to add value to the side. If I can bowl 10-12 overs per day and could be that third or fourth seamer of the side according to conditions, my captain could be relieved. It is just that you need to constantly grow and add things in your armoury," added Rohit.
However, it will be better for Rohit to concentrate on his batting skills alone. One does not want special talents like Rohit to concentrate too much on becoming an all-rounder.
Irfan Pathan is a perfect example -- he broke into scene with his seam bowling, but once he began to concentrate on his batting skills, he gradually lost his bowling form and was soon out of the Indian team.
The recently-concluded Sri Lanka series might have been decent for Rohit, but he has a tough task at hand against South Africa, when the two teams play 3 T20Is, 5 ODIs and 4 Test matches.
"I am satisfied with my performance in the Test matches [against Sri Lanka]. I know there was a chance to score a big hundred but my 50 in the third Test was satisfying. But I am not sitting on my laurels and would like to improve on it," added Rohit.
