The excitement was right up there and press conference room was buzzing with activity as all journalists waited for the Indian captain Rohit Sharma’s media interaction to begin ahead of the India vs Pakistan Asia Cup contest. Team India is now on the home stretch of road to the World Cup and with all of their first-choice players, apart from KL Rahu who is carrying a groin niggle, available for selection, the Playing XI for the World Cup will now start taking shape.
Before leaving for Asia Cup, India had a fitness camp in Alur, Bengaluru and the team now wants to switch the game phase on. Rohit isn’t treating the multi-nation tournament as any “fitness test” and wants the focus to now shift on matches.
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“By no means this tournament is a fitness test. Asia Cup is played between top Asian teams. It’s a big tournament, so much history. Fitness camp and all that was done in Bengaluru. Now we need to get the game phase on,” Rohit said on eve of India vs Pakistan.
‘Great bowlers’
For years, India vs Pakistan contests have been about India’s batting and Pakistan’s bowling. The narrative, however, has changed in the last few years and both teams have quality seamers in their ranks. The likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf are set to light the stage up. For India, the good news is that Bumrah back to peak fitness, game time under the belt and looking in good spirits.
“All six bowlers (both India and Pakistan) are great bowlers, they have proven how great they are in world cricket. Jasprit Bumrah looked good in Ireland and camp, looking in good spirit. Shami and Siraj too have been doing the job in past few years,” said Rohit.
India batters vs Shaheen, Rauf and Shah
Even after an equal fire in bowling armoury, a lot of build-up talk has revolved around how India’s batter will tackle the fiery Pakistan trio of Shaheen, Rauf and Shah. Rohit wants his batters to use their experience against them and asserts they have “seen their strengths and weakness”.
“We don’t have Shaheen, Naseem and Rauf in the nets. We practice with what we have/ All three are quality bowlers. Pakistan always had quality bowlers. We have seen their strengths and weakness. Will use our experience vs them,” said Rohit.
The captain is aware that his role in countering Pakistan’s pace battery is going to be important. Rohit, after playing with more risk in the last couple of years, wants to find the right balance in this tournament.
“I will ensure to not let it go when I get into good rhythm. I haven’t thought about in last two years but now I will try and get that balance in my game. I need to do what team needs. I have played different cricket in last 2 years. I have taken more risk. My role as a top-order batter is important for the team. To bat long for the team and put team in a good position. The idea will be to use my experience,” said Rohit.
‘Happy headache’
The Indian team management, after grappling with injuries for last 10-12 months, have a full strength squad at their disposal and will now face a “happy headache” to find the right Playing XI. Rohit agrees that it will be a challenging task but is happy to have this headache.
“It’s always nice to have good pool of players to choose from. Good for the team environment as well. Quite a challenging task for us to make the Playing XI. Good to have such competition and headache around. I hope 15-18 we have to stay fit for next 2 months,” said Rohit.
For starters, India need to take the call between an extra spinner or a seamer and also not weaken the batting in the process. If India don’t pick both Shardul Thakur and Axar Patel and go ahead with specialist bowling options, they will have to deal with a longer tail. Rohit didn’t reveal much on the combination but said it’s important to read the conditions before taking any decision. The skipper asserted that there is a lot of room for application in a 50-over match and it’s going to be the key.
“All sorts of combination are available. Looking at game yesterday, we saw swing and spin. Luckily, we have experience in the batting line-up. We want to take the game on but it’s important to read conditions. You need to apply more in 50-over match,” said Rohit.
The multi-nation tournaments
India have failed to lift an ICC trophy since the Champions Trophy win in 2013 and the chatter around the same will only grow louder when the World Cup at home nears. India have played some finals in the last decade but the trophy cabinet has been empty since that win over England in the CT final under MS Dhoni.
When asked about India’s performance in multi-nation tournaments, Rohit said they have “addressed the issues”, and tried a few new players and now the Asia Cup is an opportunity to apply before the World Cup begins.
“Whenever we don’t do well in a tournament, we look to address. We have spoken a lot about that. Have given opportunities to new players. Now Asia Cup is opportunity before 10-team WC. We have addressed issues/points we wanted to. Time to play good cricket,” said Rohit.
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