The vice-captain of India’s ODI team, Rohit Sharma, who is also known as the ‘Hitman’ of the limited over game, is all set to make an impact in six-match ODI series against South Africa.

In the recently concluded three-match Test series that India lost by 2-1, Sharma scored 10, 47, 11 and 10 in the four innings that he played in the first two Tests matches.

Rohit Sharma, along with Indian skipper Virat Kohli, was brutally slammed by cricket lovers as well cricket Pandits because he was preferred over ‘dependable’ Ajinkya Rahane for the first two Tests.

In the third Test match that India won by 63 runs, Sharma was replaced by Ajinkya Rahane from the playing eleven.

However, Rohit is not bothered with his Test form as he has more clarity of the limited over game.

Ahead of the first ODI match, Rohit Sharma said, “In ODIs you think two steps ahead and want to put pressure back on the bowlers. And change it around. There are a lot of Test cricketers who think in the same fashion in ODI [and Test] cricket.”

“For me, it is different and nothing changes other than mentally. Technical aspect remains the same. Yes, the shot selection and certain technical aspect of your game changes but mentally you have to keep telling yourself that you have to read the situation and try and analyse where the game is going and where you want the game to be going after the day’s play,” Rohit Sharma said on Thursday.

“It’s not that I don’t try much in Test cricket. I give the same effort in all the formats that I play, but sometimes it comes and sometimes it doesn’t. But that doesn’t mean that you have to change things too much,” Rohit Sharma added.

“You’ve got to believe in yourself, you’ve come so far and played and got success. I’ve been in a difficult situation before many times, so for me it’s all about taking it one game at a time and responding to situations,” Sharma said.

“There will always be times when things are not going your way, and then when things are going your way, it is important for you to keep things going,” he added.

Rohit Sharma will open the Indian innings in the ODI match and after his flop show in the Test series, he is itching to perform in the six-match series.

“I’m not going to talk about Test cricket so much because its over now, and we have a big job at hand winning the ODI series here. Every batsman who will be taking part in this ODI series will have a huge role to play. I’m here to make an impact in the series.”

Indian cricket team have never won any bilateral ODI series in South Africa and Rohit said that Virat Kohli’s side is keen to be the first one by doing so.

India needs to win this series if they are to topple South Africa from the top spot in the ODI rankings.

If the visitors will manage to outclash the hosts in the ODI series, then they will become the World Number one in ICC ODI rankings. Currently, the South Africa are the No.1 team.

“We are very keen to win this ODI series. But it is a long series; it is a six-match series. I think it’s been a while since we played a six-match series. We cannot think too far ahead.”

“It is important to do a lot of things right. There will be times when we will be put under pressure but as a team we have shown that we can absorb that pressure and come back,” Rohit Sharma said.

“At the same time we have shown that if we put pressure back on the opposition they tend to crumble. We are going to try to use it to our advantage.”

When Sharma was asked about india’s poor stats in the rainbow nation, he said, “I don’t think these things matter because so many things change. The teams have changed. The generations have changed. It’s a 50-over game, so you get time. Even if the first 10 overs go bad, you can always come back.”

“We can’t give up on the situation. Whoever comes into bat must remember that the team has to be kept in the game. These small things are important as opposed to the past records.”

When Sharma was asked about his ODI form he said, “Of course the last six-seven months have been really great. Since the Champions Trophy in England, we’ve had a great run except for the loss against Pakistan (in the final). That was a little disappointing. But yes, since then its been a good run. I hope I can continue and put the team in a good situation. We want to get those victories away from home.”