The Indian team was unbeaten in the group stage of the T20 World Cup 2024.
The Men in Blue remained undefeated in Group A as they triumphed over Ireland, Pakistan and the USA in low-scoring games in New York while their last game against Canada in Florida was abandoned due to wet outfield.
After a week-long break, the Rohit Sharma-led side will return to action in the Super 8s. India will open their Super 8 campaign against Afghanistan in Barbados on June 20, followed by the games against Bangladesh and Australia in Antigua and St. Lucia on June 22 and June 24 respectively.
While the schedule seems a bit daunting given the travel time that's involved, India skipper Rohit Sharma doesn’t see it as a hurdle.
Rohit emphasized that his team knows what it's like to be on the road, with players having featured in the IPL and a packed international calendar.
"There is real keenness in the group to go and do something special. So that's a good way to start our second stage in the tournament. Clearly shows that everybody wants to make a difference, and obviously, we take our skill sessions quite seriously. There is something to achieve in every session. Once we play our first game, we are playing the next 2 games in a span of 3-4 days. It's going to be a little hectic, but again, we are used to all of this. We travel a lot, we play a lot. So that's never going to be an excuse," Rohit said while speaking to bcci.tv.
During the tour of West Indies last year, India suffered a 3-2 defeat in the five-match T20I series under Hardik Pandya's captaincy.
However, Rohit is hopeful of his players using the experience of playing in the Caribbean to good effect in the remainder of the T20 World Cup.
"We will look to focus a lot more on our skills and what we need to do as a team rather than all of this. Every session then becomes really important and to make the best use of it. We have seen a lot of games here, played a lot of games here so everyone understands what one needs to do to get the result in our favour. Everyone's looking forward and quite excited at the same time," the Indian captain remarked.