Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma now only play the ODI format for India.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are all set to make India comeback in the three-match ODI series against South Africa, starting on November 30 at the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi.
On the eve of the series opener, India’s stand-in skipper highlighted the importance of having Kohli and Rohit in the team, citing that their presence boosts the dressing room's confidence.
"Their importance at any point is huge. To have senior players in the team obviously makes the dressing room feel a lot more confident. Just having their presence and experience helps out a lot of players in the dressing room and helps out the team. So, we're really happy that they're here," Rahul said while speaking at the pre-match press conference.
"Winning is the most important thing. That's what we're trying to focus on and try and forget what happened a week ago and focus on the game tomorrow and see how we can put in a collective performance which helps us get a victory and then go on from here to the next venue and see how we can do that again and try and win this series. So, that's the most important thing and that's what we're thinking about. Obviously, having a settled team helps and having some similar faces helps the dressing room as well," he added.
Rahul, who will lead India in the absence of the injured Shubman Gill, lauded Virat Kohli's ability to rotate strike, stressing that taking singles is as important as hitting boundaries in ODI and Test formats.
"Taking singles is as important as hitting boundaries in ODI cricket and in Test match cricket, maybe not as much in T20 format. That's something that Virat has done so well over his career. It's something that we've looked at Virat and tried to learn. Even in the dressing room, we all talked to him and Rohit about how we can get better as batsmen, how we can rotate the strike a lot more. He's obviously the master at doing that in ODI cricket. So, we're really happy that he's back in the dressing room and he's very excited to be here and play these games," he remarked.
After the first ODI in Ranchi, both teams will square off in Raipur, followed by the final game in Visakhapatnam. The hosts will look to turn their fortunes around in ODIs after a humiliating 0-2 whitewash in the Test series.
(With ANI Inputs)