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Kolkata: Rohit Sharma's love affair with Eden Gardens continued as he slammed a sublime 82 to hand India a commanding 339-run lead over New Zealand on Day 3 of the second Test. Eden Gardens has always proved to be Rohit's happy-hunting ground where he has a debut Test century, an ODI world record 264, two IPL titles for Mumbai Indians, beside a Ranji Trophy double. The Mumbai batsman missed his second test ton at the iconic venue by 18 runs. A satisfied looking Rohit, later spoke to the media after the days play. Here are the excerpts:

Q: Every time you are under pressure, you seem to come with the goods? A: As far as I’m concerned, I’m under no pressure. It only comes from the media that I'm under pressure. I’m going to as you this, do I look under pressure? Even the first Test, I got runs.

Q: Could you talk about the pitch that has variable bounce? A: I think over the last two days, you may have seen the wicket that it’s not a typical Kolkata wicket. They have relaid the surface and you may seen uneven bounce occasionally. At no point the batsmen could relax and take it granted. Every ball you played, you had to give more than 100 per cent for that ball. Saha and I decided we had to play each ball on its merit and not to think too far ahead. We focussed on the present. We lost a few wickets initially and it was all about rebuilding the partnership. We have seen over the years in Test cricket there have been quick wickets and it takes only one or two batsmen to get the team out of trouble. Saha and myself, the 100-run partnership was crucial to the team. Once we got in, we played our shots as well and we wanted to put the pressure back on New Zealand. It’s a wicket where you will get value for your shots as the outfield is fast. It’s all about getting your eye and then you can accelerate. We got two important days coming up and almost 340 ahead. We all know Saha and Bhuvi can bat as well. Try to get as much as we can tomorrow morning.

Q: Did the conditions change or did you make it look easy. A: The conditions were not easy. As a bowler if you put the balls in the right areas (you can). You may see bounce and an odd ball keeping low, like you saw what happened to Virat. You have to be at it all the time. You can’t relax. There is something in the surface throughout the day, not just in the morning or in the evening.

Q: Did you tend to play back foot more? A : It’s a situation where you can’t go too forward nor sit back. The ball which Shikhar got hit, it pitched right in front and it just kicked off from there. You have to make sure you are balanced and play as late as possible. It was something which I looking to do. Even in the nets, I batted as late as possible. Every batsman will have certain plans. Some may not be comfortable playing on the front and some may not be comfortable playing on the back foot. It’s about getting adjusted to that particular condition. We saw after lunch, or may after tea, it was not doing that much.

Q: Has India's batting depth given the top-order more liberty to attack A: Yes, psychologically it helps the top-order. They can play their shots if they want to. But I am sure at no point they must be thinking that (the lower-order will chip in), because every batsmen who goes in the middle wants to score runs. That depth gives you a leverage to play your shots and be aggressive and more expressive. Even in West Indies our tail-enders are proper lower-order batsmen. Ashwin has got Test hundreds, Saha has got hundred, Bhuvi occasionally has scored a fifty - he has scored fifties in England, Jadeja has scored runs. You never know Shami might get a fifty tomorrow. So it gives you the depth. All the teams across the world, their lower middle-order has made an impact in the game and we wanted to crate that in our team as well so I am glad that it is happening. Speaking is one thing and going out there and doing it is another, so we are actually doing it. We are happy with that.

Q: Was it difficult to maintain the ball for reverse swing? A: I dont think so it was difficult. Once the ball got changes, I think Shami was bowling this morning. When you are fielding in such humid conditions your clothes are wet all the time, so you make sure that one side of the ball is dry all the time. It's pretty difficult but we have identified a couple of guys in our team who have to make sure that they keep their pants dry all the time to shine the ball. It is happening, so we have got certain things going in our team which is good. The first session when we were bowling with that ball there wasn't much reverse swing, like we saw in Kanpur, because of the surface and the outfield, lush green outfield. You might not see so much of reverse swing that we saw in Kanpur.

Q: Watching Virat take on the NZ bowlers how was it from the non-strikers end? A: As a non-striker I was just hoping that he gets through that period. At times there will be a spell which you have to play. There will be times when the going will get tough. This is Test cricket. Nothing will be easy, so we knew that and were prepared for it. Every batsman who goes in thinking that he might get a spell that he will have to respect and play out the overs. But Virat being an aggressive player he played some wonderful shots which were good to so from the non-strikers end. But he got out to a pretty unfortunate delivery which probably will happen once in ten times. Nothing wrong with that, it's the nature of the wicket. Even the New Zealanders also got some pretty heavy balls which kept low. One of the balls which rise. At the end where we stand right now we are pretty happy. Lets hopes we get fifty-plus runs in the morning, that will be good.