Once the ball starts talking, what would otherwise be middling run chases prove quite a handful in the ODI game, as India found out at Lord’s in the second game of the series against England on July 14. However, skipper Rohit Sharma believes the only way forward in such tricky chases is to play a positive brand of cricket.
For Rohit, India’s biggest lesson from their 100-run loss chasing a modest 247-run target on a seam-friendly deck was to not go too nervy at the beginning of their chase and not allow the opposition bowlers to dictate terms.
As India look to reassert themselves on England by winning the series-decider at Manchester on July 17), Rohit wants India not to repeat a timid approach with the bat in hand and play their naturally attacking style of cricket. It’s a lesson he wants Indian batters to imbibe quickly and be brave to put the pressure back on the bowlers heading into the 2023 World Cup.
“It has happened for us on a few occasions now,”
ESPNcricinfo quoted Rohit as saying, as India suffered their worst new-ball collapse at Lord’s since the 2019 World Cup semifinal defeat to New Zealand.
“We’ve spoken about that a lot, it has happened not just in the 2019 World Cup, but also in the Champions Trophy and few other games as well where we were put under pressure, we lost wickets and we were 20 for 3 or 40 for 4.”
Sharma, who has previously too emphasized the need for India to prepare for mini collapses at the beginning of their innings and learn how to overcome trouble waters, stressed on the need to adopt a positive mindset in such situations.
“That is where I want guys to change their mindset a little bit and try to be a little positive, extra positive and try and take the game on.
”Because I know the target is small, you are chasing 230, 240, but is there another way that you can take when you are chasing a target like that? Is there something different you can do as a batting unit? And I think so, yes, you can,”
he added.
Rohit said when India are in trouble at the top it is a great opportunity for the players coming in to emerge as heroes and prove their standing as match-winners. He said the confidence gained out of it would be a huge boost to the game of India’s middle-order players – Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer, among others.
Even at Lord’s, just for a brief, Suryakumar was looking brilliant for his 27 off 29 before his promising innings was cut short by an inside edge that got back onto the stumps. If at all an Indian batter looked comfortable on that surface, it was him. The right-hander’s knock presented a case for Indian batters to not feel wary of attacking irrespective of the game situation and be prepared to take the aggressive options.
“That is where I want these guys to take the game on and see if they can find something different about their own game.
If they get the team out of that situation, imagine the confidence they are going to get from that. It is something that has been spoken about, but it depends on the individual at that moment as well,”
Rohit said, putting the onus on himself and head coach Rahul Dravid to create an environment where batters can play their strokes without hesitation in any circumstances.
