In his first interview after being officially made India’s new ODI and T20I skipper, veteran opener Rohit Sharma has asked his team to keep the outside talk at bay and focus on their jobs rather than letting their brain think what others are saying.
Rohit was speaking on BCCI.tv and mentioned that one of his major focus areas as captain would be to form a “strong bond” amongst the players that shall help when the chips are down and allow them to make a strong comeback.
Part of it is to ensure what is said outside by the fans and in the media stays outside the dressing room and doesn’t affect any of the individual part of the group.
“This is also the same message to the team and the team understand that when we are playing a high-profile tournament, there will be a lot of talks. It’s just important for us to focus on what we have in hand; which is to go and win games and play the way you are known for,”
he said.
“So, those talks outside are immaterial. What we think of each other is more important. You want to share a strong bond between players and that is what will help us achieve the goal we want to,”
Sharma added.
Rohit further stressed on the point, saying the talk outside – be it “positive or negative” – is best avoided and not allowed to pile on the pressure of expectations which is already there on the team and the individuals involved.
Rohit, under whose captaincy Mumbai Indians have won five IPL titles and India 18 of 22 T20Is, has previously stood-up in 10 ODIs as skipper, winning eight. Famously, that includes the Asia Cup 2018 in the UAE when India didn’t concede a single match (had a tie with Afghanistan but didn’t lose any game) and went on to clinch the trophy.
As stand-in ODI captain, Rohit has a tremendous record to his name: averaging 77.57 with a strike-rate of 97.31 for 543 runs, including two centuries.
