After several highs, Rohit Sharma wants to start with a clean slate in Australia

CHENNAI: When Rohit Sharma took the flight to South Africa earlier this year, he was on a high that he is on now. The 31-year-old had scored 1293 runs in 21 ODIs in 2017 at an average of 71.83 and 217 runs from two Test matches against Sri Lanka at home pretty much ensured him a spot in Test XI in South Africa.
But what followed was a string of poor performances - 11, 10, 10 and 47 in the first two Test matches - and it saw him getting dropped from the longer format.But now, following his superb show in the shorter formats over the last few months, the Mumbai man is back in the Test squad for the Australia series.

1030 runs at an average of 73.57 in 19 ODIs this season, coupled with the 560 runs from 16 T20Is give one the impression that Rohit is in fine nick going to Australia. The team management, too, is so keen on preparing him for Test cricket that he is being sent with the India 'A' team to New Zealand for a four-day warm-up match. If he plays that game in New Zealand starting in Mount Maunganui on November 16, it would be difficult for Rohit to join the Indian team in Brisbane for the first T20 on November 21.
But probably the team management and Rohit himself are ready to make that sacrifice so that the stylist is well-prepared for the first Test starting in Adelaide on December 6.
"Test matches are something I was looking forward to for a long time. So it will be nice to go out there and play a Test match again for India. But then, we have the T20Is (three-match series) and practice games before the first Test. So I am not thinking too far ahead now," Rohit said after India completed a 3-0 whitewash of West Indies in the T20 series on Sunday night.
For Rohit, the Tests in Australia could be make-or-break. For a while now, the exceptionally talented batsman has failed to live up to his promise in the longer format. Even though he has three centuries, including back-to-back hundreds in his first two Tests, the right-hander has only scored 1479 in 25 matches at an average of 39.97. What has also hurt India is his failure to deliver in crunch situations, for instance in the series against South Africa.
Rohit, though, says that it will be a fresh start for him when he reaches Australia and has also chalked out a 'simple' game plan for the tour. "As a batsman, I don't think what I have done in the past. Every game is a new game. Every time I go out there in the middle, I keep things simple. This game is simple if you keep it simple. If you overthink, it can get complicated. So it is important to stay in present. It is important to start well in Australia and then, take it from there. If I try and stay in present, it works for me," Rohit said.
Rohit's competition for a place in the first XI could be with Hanuma Vihari, who scored a half-century on debut against England at The Oval a couple of months back. While Rohit is all flair and style, Hanuma is the dogged fighter who doesn't give his wicket away easily. But the fact that Rohit is a good back-foot player should stand him in good stead to clinch that No. 6 spot in the batting-order.
"As a team, it will be important to start fresh. Australia will be a different ball-game and I completely understand that. Every time you go there, you are tested as a player, as an individual and as a team. But I think the things we have been doing as a team, we have to keep repeating the performance. So we got to be at our best," Rohit said, looking ahead to a gruelling Australian summer.