Rohit Sharma refuses to read much into off day for Australia bowlers

Chennai: India A batsmen dominated the opening day of the warm up game against Australia but Rohit Sharma said the visitors actually have a decent attack and they leaked runs because they were aggressive and experimented a bit with their bowling variations. Sharma cracked a useful 77 and shared a 128-run stand for the second wicket with centurion Gautam Gambhir (112) as India A piled up 338 for four.

"They have a decent attack. They were trying to attack too much with fielders all closing in and so we could take those chances and score runs quickly. Again it is a different ball game when it comes to Test match. They will be bowling more tight. May be they were trying few things today. We took real advantage of that," Sharma said after day's play.

The 25-year-old batsman was pleased with his batting. "Of course I am happy. I think whatever I got I am happy but I know that even if you get hundred, you will probably feel I should go for 150. That is not the case here. I am happy with whatever I am getting. I am looking forward to whatever opportunities I get," he said.

Sharma cracked 77 and shared a 128-run stand for the second wicket with centurion Gambhir as India A piled up 338 for four.

Talking about his partnership with Gambhir, he said, they decided to plan was to prolong the stay at the wicket. "We had a small conversation saying that we need to spend some time not losing wickets. That was the plan and it really worked. When we went in after lunch we ran between the wickets very well. After lunch, runs started to come by very easily because those guys were trying few new things and both of us took advantage of it," he said.

Sharma also said it was a challenge to survive and score against Peter Siddle and Mitchell Starc. "They were bowling really well on tight lines. It is not easy to score here because the outfield and the wicket is not so fast. In the middle we saw them bowling reverse swing as well. Starc and Siddle bowled four overs in the middle and it was doing a lot. That period was very crucial and we played very well and did not give wickets," he said.

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