Indian captain Rohit Sharma addressed his first press conference at the T20 World Cup on Saturday, ahead of the important clash against Pakistan at the MCG, to be played on Sunday.
Rohit said that the team will have to play well on that particular day to win the match, other things don’t matter much. The skipper also said that India’s experienced batting and Pakistan’s bowling make the environment lively.
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“I don’t want you to use the word pressure but take it as a challenge. This Pakistan is very challenging, in fact, all of them. It’s all about ‘it’s your day’. They played well last World Cup and they won.
“We know how good Pakistan’s bowling is. And our batting is also experienced. The environment gets lively in that case. We have discussed how we need to bat and ball against them.
“Main favourites aur underdogs mein believe nahi karta hun. (I don’t believe in favourites and underdogs). Whenever we come into a big tournament, there is always a talk about it. I believe, we just need to play well and have a great mindset on that particular day.”
Rohit further added that the entire squad is available for selection and there are no niggles or injuries.
“Yes, All 15 players are fit and available for selection.”
Rohit also spoke about the challenge that ICC tournaments bring. “It’s a challenge to come out and win the ICC tournaments. The opportunity always comes, and we have it now. We’ll have to focus on certain things to make it right.
“We can’t go onto the field thinking we haven’t won the World Cup since long. The more we keep things simple, our job will be done better”.
Talking about the Australian conditions, Rohit said that it will be important to see how the team performs with bigger boundaries. He also said that he will want to remain open with the playing XI.
“I’ve been hearing about the Melbourne weather for quite a while now. We had a good training session today and we’ll go back, get rest, and return tomorrow.
“A lot of guys have never been to Australia. So that’s the reason we came here early. We were lucky enough to have time on our hands and prepare before we came here to Melbourne.
“We have been going through a lot of numbers these days, like who has been successful in Australia. When it comes to Playing XI, we don’t want to get stuck but to remain open
“We play a lot of matches in India. The boundaries in comparison are shorter. Let’s see what the boys do in Australia”.
Rohit also praised Shami’s performance in the nets. “We all know the quality he’s got. When Bumrah got injured, we always wanted someone experienced in the line-up and Shami was the right choice for us. Mohammad Shami looks in great rhythm, he’s done his preparations”.
While India lost the last T20 World Cup, failing to qualify for the semi-finals, Rohit said that the team had addressed what went wrong and they will be executing the plans now.
“We have had a good run, wanted a change a lot of things, addressed what went wrong for us in last World Cup.
“It’s time to execute those plans and ideas we have been discussing. We want to do as much things right as possible.”
There also have been deliberations about India not willing to tour Pakistan for the 2023 Asia Cup. The Pakistan Cricket Board also issued a statement against Jay Shah’s comment, stating that they might also boycott the ODI World Cup if India doesn’t tour Pakistan. However, Rohit said that they should focus on the T20 World Cup and that BCCI will make the decision.
“Let’s focus on this world cup because this is important for us. Not worried about what gonna happen later. BCCI will make a decision on that.”
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