Rohit Sharma with his wife Ritika Sajdeh
India vice-captain and opener Rohit Sharma, who is known for crediting special knocks to his wife Ritika Sajdeh on her birthday and marriage anniversary, missed his better-half very much when he scored he his third T20 International century in team's series-clinching win in Bristol on Sunday.
"My wife keeps a close tab on the games. I know she's been watching from India," Rohit told Dinesh Karthik in a video interview shared by the BCCI. (Also read: Virat Kohli ecstatic after bagging T20I series)
In the backdrop of India's seven-wicket win over England, Rohit became the second batsman after New Zealand's Colin Munro to score three hundreds in T20I cricket.
The 31-year-old Maharashtra batsman said his prime focus was on guiding his team to the victory and "individual milestone" was not at all in his mind. "It feels good to win this series first. We lost the last game and it was a decider so I was just thinking about the series win. (Also read: Rahul attains career-best third T20I ranking)
"Individual milestones will happen along the way as long as you're playing but I was not at all thinking about all of that. It was important once I got off to a good start, I was only thinking about how we can finish off the game. And that was the only thing that was playing in my mind because it was an important game for us," Rohit added.
Earlier in Dublin, Rohit missed out on a T20I ton against Ireland and lost his wicket for 97 runs. Rohit explained how different were the circumstances, saying: "Today, there were different circumstances because we were chasing a score. We want one batsman to bat through the innings. And it was my responsibility today. That day, it was KL Rahul's, who got a beautiful hundred."
"In Ireland, it was all about making as many runs as possible because we were batting first. So I went after a shot, missed it and got out. I was a little disappointed," he concluded. (Also read: Rohit slays England as India clinch series)
The Indian vice-captain made a target of 199 look ridiculously easy on a small Bristol ground after the visiting bowlers did a commendable job at the back end to restrict the hosts to a sub-par score.
Rohit stroked his way to 100 not out, his third T20I hundred, with the help of 11 fours and five sixes, adding 89 runs for the third wicket with Kohli, who got his first score of note on the tour of UK.
The series win set the right tone for the grueling challenges ahead with the three-match ODI series, up next, starting from July 12.
