Rohit Sharma, who resurrected his Test career as an opener, said that he would continue to play his natural attacking game in red-ball cricket even if that fetches him criticism and asserted that if he can keep doing what he does best the team would be in a dominant position.

Speaking in an interview to Aaj Tak, Sharma said, “I know what the team management has told me and I have been given a role. Even if 10 innings don’t work out the way I want, it won’t affect me as the team management backing is very important. If I can keep doing that, the team will be in a very dominant position in Test cricket,” said Rohit.”

On being asked if it was his attacking style of play that helped him score the double-hundred in Tests, the 32-year-old said that “nothing comes easy” in the longest format.

“Nothing comes easy in Test cricket. In the initial phase of my Test career, I was giving too much respect to the bowlers while forgetting that I have to keep playing my natural game. I will keep playing my shots in the future as well even if people start criticizing me. I will keep backing my game,” he said.

The vice-captain of India’s limited-overs set-up further said that he had been “mentally” preparing for the opener’s role for some time as it was being discussed by the captain, coach and the selectors.

He added, “Initially I was a middle-order batsman, even during the start of my ODI career. But in India especially when the ball gets old, shot-making becomes difficult. It doesn’t mean that I haven’t got opportunities to bat a lot of overs. But while opening, if you are through the initial phase, whether at home or away, you can only get out by your own mistake.”

The opener also that a couple of superstitious believes were also among the reasons behind his success. Reportedly, he wore the same pair of socks in all the nine matches that Indian played in the ICC World Cup, earlier this year, after scoring a hundred in the opening fixture against South Africa wearing them.

Even during the recently-concluded Test series against South Africa, something of the similar sort happened. Sharma wore the same t-shirt in both the innings of the first Test after he scored a hundred donning it in the first innings.