Rohit Highly Motivated, Played With Freedom: Graeme Smith

Former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith hailed Rohit Sharma and said the opener's discipline has made him a great batsman

Talking about India star opener Rohit Sharma's great run of form, former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith said the opener's discipline has made him a great batsman. The flamboyant batsman struck his maiden double century in Test cricket to help India declare on 497/9 on Day 2 of the third Test against South Africa on Sunday. In the process, Rohit became the fourth batsman to hit a double hundred both in Test and ODI cricket, emulating Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Chris Gayle. "Rohit has been highly motivated with his performances and the key here is his good discipline and strategy towards the game which makes him stand out as one of the best Test batsmen. Also, South Africa lacking in punch with the old ball and in the spin department allowed Rohit to play with freedom and that has been reflected in the excellent series he has had till now," Smith said on Star Sports. After the day's play, Rohit said that he was mentally ready for a good outing in Ranchi. “It was a good opportunity for me to open the batting. As I said during the Vizag Test, the communication between me and my team management was happening for a long time about opening the batting. So mentally I was ready for it. I knew it could come anytime,” he said. Speaking about his knock, Rohit said, “I would say it was most challenging. I have played only 30 Tests. In terms of what was thrown at me, I would definitely say it was probably the most challenging one.”