Indian skipper Rohit Sharma reportedly left aghast when a reporter asked whether his Test form affected his confidence in white-ball cricket at press interactions before the three-match ODI series against England.
The Indian captain cross-questioned it, saying he would not care too much about what the recent past has been like; rather, he was “looking forward to the challenge.”
“Hi, Rohit. Being confident while going back in an ICC format where Hitman is your nickname, especially when Test runs don’t come easy?” The question came in Nagpur.
“And what sort of question is that?” Rohit snickered. “That’s a different format; a different time. Ups and downs are part of every series; I have gone through it a lot. Every day is a new day, every series, a different series, is never in the mind. I am ready for the challenge, not gloating over the past. Clearly, you don’t. For me, there is no reason to dwell on the past. Therefore, it’s important I focus on what is coming up and what lies ahead for me. I would like to start the series in a positive manner.”
Rohit endured a dismal second half of 2024 when his Test returns dwindled under the pressure of having India lose back-to-back series against New Zealand and Australia.
There were questions based on the assumption that he should have taken retirement from the Test matches; he eventually opted out of the last of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy being held in Sydney. These three ODIs will come for him as a breath of fresh air, with that being the format where he has been at his best over the years.
We want to play a certain brand of cricket: Rohit
Speaking on the team’s approach for the series, Rohit suggested that it would be the very same aggressive mindset they employed in the World Cup in 2023, which yielded great results until the final against Australia.
“Look, we want to play a certain kind of cricket-a certain brand of cricket,” said Rohit. “And that would mean doing what we did in the World Cup. But, again, look, the World Cup was a year and a half ago. So, clearly, we need to regroup. And think about what we need to do here. Yes, there is quite a lot of experience in the team, and it’s not as if you can always keep telling them exactly how they need to prepare for every series. They know what to expect of the team. So, there is not too much talk about what sort of approach we need to have,” he added.
