India vs Eng 2nd Test: Why Rohit Sharma had to ‘secretly date’ wife Ritika before marriage

India opener Rohit Sharma and wife Ritika Sajdeh are one of the most adorable couples in Indian cricket fraternity. The Mumbai Indians captain has always considered Ritika and daughter Samaira as his strength and always tries to travel on tour or during the Indian Premier League (IPL) with them. But Rohit and Ritika didn’t have it easy before their marriage.

In a chat with former Kolkata Knight Riders captain Dinesh Karthik, the ‘Hitman’ stated that both Ritika and he never felt that they were dating each other. Stating that both he and his wife are close friends, Rohit revealed that his friends then started seeing something else apart from friendship in their relationship.

“We actually never felt like that. We were working together. She is still my manager and she was my manager back then as well. We had a straightforward working relationship and after working hours, we were really close friends. I don’t care about what people think, my close friends said that they see something in this relationship,” said Rohit Sharma in a chat with Dinesh Karthik for Sky Sports.

Rohit revealed that both he and Ritika cared about each other, and what his friends had thought about his relationship with Ritika proved to be right later on and had to ‘secretly date’ each other.

“It was just friendship and caring about each other. But, it later turned out that all my friends were right. I didn’t know how to inform my friends about it. When we started dating officially, I started thinking on how to convey it to my friends. I felt like these guys will not let me live,” Rohit added.

Best I have seen KL Rahul bat: Rohit Sharma

Rohit scored an attractive 83 and added 126 for the opening stand with KL Rahul, who ended the first day of the second Test unbeaten on 127. “It was probably the best I have seen KL bat and he was in control from ball one till we finished the day today. Very much in control,” Rohit said after the day’s play on Thursday (August 12).

“At no given point, it looked like he was confused or thinking too much. He was very clear with his plans and when you trust your plans, it definitely works. I thought today was his day and he made it really count,” the opener added.

Rohit’s own innings laid the foundation and he seemed happy that both him and Rahul were able to control their minds while facing the new ball and cut down the risky shots. “That’s the challenge of Test cricket. You may have lot of shots in your book but when you know that conditions are against you, you have to keep talking to yourself and you have to cut down the shots that are unnecessary specially with the new ball,” Rohit explained.

“Once you play and get the feel of the pitch and conditions, then may be you can try and play some shots. We respect the conditions here and it's also important to go out and implement plans. That is something us as a batting group have done reasonably well – right from Australia tour to today.”

When asked what kind of discussions he had with Rahul as they opened in England for the first time, the answer was a signature Rohit. “Honestly, there was no discussion as KL was not supposed to play the first game and Mayank (Agarwal) was supposed to play that game.

“Unfortunately, he (Mayank) got hit on his head and he missed out due to concussion and then only KL stepped in. Once we went out to bat, we were discussing about what we need to do and things like that. Yes, first time I have played with KL in Test cricket but I have batted with him a number of times.”