Mumbai, Nov 16: Back from injury, Mumbai’s Rohit Sharma, who hit two centuries in as many matches in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, is eager to make it three out of three while waiting for an India call-up. The talented middle-order batsman has had a few run-ins with injury, the most recent being a broken finger at the beginning of the England tour after being named ODI Man-of-the-Series in the West Indies tour prior to that. The freak accident caused the youngster to miss out on rest of the tour.

When on song, the 24-year-old has earned high praise from the game’s connoisseurs and elicited comparisons with the Tendulkar of the early 1990s. Touted as the heir to Mumbai’s batting legacy, Rohit, however, chooses to maintain his focus solely on his game. bcci.tv caught up with the batsman prior to Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy match against Karnataka.

Excerpts:

How has your interaction with the new India coach Duncan Fletcher been?

He is a very good coach. He handles the team very well. But I don’t want to talk too much about him right now because I’ve only played one series, [the one against] West Indies, under him. I didn’t have much time in England with him. What I’ve heard from all the people who have been telling me about Duncan Fletcher has been positive. He has been a highly rated coach. I spoke to a few of the international players also, Jacques Kallis rated him very highly and there were a few others, [like] James Franklin from Mumbai Indians – he rated him highly. He is very calm. [He] keeps his ideas about what he wants from the team and what he expects from each individual very clear. That makes our jobs easier.

During one of the Man-of-Match interactions with the media in West Indies you had said that missing out on the World Cup 2011 had increased your hunger for runs. Could you elaborate?

Missing out on the World Cup was a big setback but I don’t want to think about that because I know the Indian team did very well. I don’t want to relax [just because I’ve] got two hundreds [in the Ranji Trophy off two matches so far]. I want to go there and make it three in three; that will be my goal. The hunger never stops; as long as you are playing cricket you need to keep getting runs. The biggest example is [Sachin] Tendulkar; you can look at him and see his hunger. Even after getting 15,000 Test runs he still wants to carry on.

Whenever the future of the Test middle-order is discussed, your name comes up. Does that play at the back of your mind?

It’s been a while now that I’ve been talked about as a future Test batsman. The time has come for me to play Test cricket now. I am concentrating more on my game, on my skills and focussing [a] lot on my temperament and all that stuff which is required when you play Test cricket. I have been working on that and hopefully it will come out in a positive way and I will be able to manage all these things very nicely.

What is the advice that you’ve received from Sachin Tendulkar

We spend a lot of time with each other talking about cricket and technique and all those aspects. Everyone says the same things – keep the focus right and have the correct attitude. These are the basic things; you need to make sure that it’s all done before going [forward] another step. So that’s where I want to be a hundred percent now.

Ajinkya Rahane has made an impressive debut for India. Your thoughts on your Mumbai team-mate?

I am really happy for him because he has been working hard for the last four years now and he has been a consistent scorer for Mumbai and finally he got what he should have two years back. Now that he has got an opportunity, I hope he makes it count. He had a very good start to his one-day career but Test cricket is something he must be looking forward to. Hopefully, if he gets a chance in the third Test match [against the touring West Indies side] in Mumbai, that will be his home ground. Hopefully he will deliver for India and himself.

How are the preparations for the match against Karnataka coming along?

We’re preparing for [what] I think will be one of our crucial games in this [Ranji Trophy] league [against] Karnataka. They are a very good team and they have been playing very well. We need to concentrate on our preparation. I think we are really playing some good cricket. Everyone contributed [in the game against Rajasthan]. That outright victory in the first game was the main turnaround going into the game against Rajasthan. We got a first-innings lead chasing 530 [against Rajasthan which] is never easy. Going into this game I think we will be in a positive frame of mind.

Which of the two back-to-back centuries has been more satisfying?

Every century you score is very satisfying, no doubt about that. Of course the Railways one I would rate much higher because it was under difficult conditions. [The wicket] was not favourable for the batsman, the ball was keeping low, it [wicket] was turning, everything was happening. So I think that was one of the good knocks. Again this one [against Rajasthan] we lost two wickets upfront and we needed a partnership so I would rate this knock also as crucial. I don’t like to rate any of my knocks. I would rather say that both of these knocks were important.