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I love watching Friends: Rohit Sharma opens up about his lockdown days, favourite shows & sport

Rohit Sharma spoke to football presenter Joe Morrison on La Liga’s Facebook page. Rohit, who is India’s La Liga ambassador opened up about his days in lockdown among other things.

I love watching Friends: Rohit Sharma opens up about his lockdown days, favourite shows & sport

Bengaluru, May 23: Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the members of the Indian cricket team, like most of the world have been forced into mandatory lockdown.

During this time, the cricketers have kept fans engaged with live sessions on social media. On Saturday, Indian vice-captain Rohit Sharma spoke to football presenter Joe Morrison on La Liga’s Facebook page. Rohit, who is India’s La Liga ambassador opened up about his days in lockdown among other things.

Excerpts:


On the lockdown:

I have been in Mumbai, it’s the place where I live and since the lockdown happened. I’ve not moved out of my place except to buy some groceries which are the essentials and also it’s been 2 months for us here now.


On being at home vs being in the team hotel:

No, it’s completely different. Yes it’s nice to be in the team hotel where our teammates are around but when you are at home, you are at home, you are at ease without any pressure you are with your family, your kids and you feel like home.

Whereas when you are in the hotel you are thinking about the game, thinking about the performance, thinking about the oppositions also what you want to do on the field that kind of the stuff.

So you are always thinking about something or the other and right now here I am not thinking about anything.

Now I am just thinking about which movies to watch, what TV show to catch on, are there any football games coming on the television or cricket games that are coming on television that’s all I’m thinking about right now.


On binging Netflix till late at night:

No, not really. Unfortunately I cannot afford to stay up late till 3am because my little one sleeps around 10 o’clock in the night and she wakes up through the night.

I get some sleep along with my daughter so that when she wakes up in the morning I’m up and fresh and because if I don’t sleep on time my sleep is gone because she wakes up early in the morning so I go to bed around 11 or 11:30pm and then I’m up by 7:30am.

I have got the entire day to watch the shows, movies and anything that I want to watch so I try to occupy myself during the day time more than the night.


On you favourite show during lockdown:

I have finished watching Money Heist, it’s one of the best series I have watched after a long time and yes it’s a Spanish show so obviously it’s pretty good, pretty intense also quite a lot of stories, romance, thrill so it’s everything in one package. Also I also love watching FRIENDS, it’s probably the best.


On following a diet:

I have been pretty good with my diet because it’s so easy to put on weight when you are not doing anything although we have got a gym over here. Also we have a running area where we can do some running - it’s about for 50m or 100m and in Mumbai it’s totally different and not like other places where you have your own houses with backyards.

Mumbai is more of an apartment culture here they have got big buildings - 50 – 60 floors buildings so I get some running done here and it’s not like what you generally do on the field it’s just at least something.


On getting to the field and meeting the team:

Yes, I miss that although we as friends are trying to stay in touch through the video calls and video conference calls to see what’s one been up to, things like that and we manage that pretty well and yes I miss my teammates.

Hanging around with them also have some banter here and there because when you are playing together, in 365 days we are together for 300 days, we are playing, travelling together, so it’s like a family with all these guys. So the first thing I want to do is to catch up with all these guys and try to hit some balls as soon as I can.


On catching up with teammates and the joker in the team:

There are quite a few jokers in the squad. In India, it is going to be different as certain parts of the country have been affected the most and certain parts which have not been affected a lot.

So I am assuming that those places might open up a lot earlier than Mumbai, the city where I stay and which is the most infected. I feel the other guys will send me videos of catching up with each other a lot earlier than I do.


On his comeback from injury:

Before the lockdown started I was almost ready to play. That whole week was going to be my fitness test but unfortunately I had to push back on things. Once the lockdown is over I will go to the center and give my fitness test and after I pass my fitness test I will be able to resume playing with my team once again.


On sports he follows:

I follow football. When I am at home I watch football more than cricket. When you are watching it, it is pleasing to the eye to watch all these players execute their skills. I am a big believer in skills and that's why I love watching football. I do watch some tennis as well but not as much as I watch football


On the position he would choose to play in if he played football professionally:

I would see myself playing in midfield and not attacking too much because that position is very skillful and you have to create a lot of chances and I don’t like running a lot.

It’s a position where you not only create opportunities but also stop the opposition from creating opportunities.

I have tried playing a charity football game here in India, it was Bollywood against the cricketers, the All-stars and it was damn tough. It was 5-6 years ago, I remember, I was 25-26. There were a lot of older guys in the team who just did not want to do the running and made us do the running instead.

Mahi, Yuvraj and Virat were there in the team, Yuvraj, is someone who doesn’t like to run and so is MS Dhoni.


On La Liga’s effect in India:

In India we have a lot of football fans who watch LaLiga. We have been noticing that LaLiga is creating a lot of awareness in the country ensuring that everybody stands safe and taking a lot of initiatives which we as Indians are proud of.

So, whenever the tournament resumes, we get to see the same intensity and atmosphere, I am not sure that there will be people in the stadium but nevertheless we will take the empty stadiums as well as long as we get to watch the sport.

Source: La Liga Facebook Page

Story first published: Monday, May 25, 2020, 9:21 [IST]
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