Team India will kick-off their T20 World Cup 2022 campaign with a high-octane clash against arch-rivals Pakistan at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday (October 23).
The marquee game will also mark Rohit Sharma’s debut as a captain in an ICC tournament. Notably, Rohit was appointed India’s full-time T20I skipper after Virat Kohli stepped down from the position in November last year.
On the eve of the match, Rohit said the team will have to play well on that particular day to emerge victorious and other things don’t matter much.
The skipper also added that India’s experienced batting and Pakistan’s bowling make the contest lively.
“I don’t want you to use the word pressure but take it as a challenge. This Pakistan is very challenging, in fact, all of them. It’s all about ‘it’s your day’. They played well last World Cup and they won,” Rohit said at the pre-match press conference on Saturday (October 22).
“We know how good Pakistan’s bowling is. And our batting is also experienced. The environment gets lively in that case. We have discussed how we need to bat and bowl against them.
“Main favourites aur underdogs mein believe nahi karta hun. (I don’t believe in favourites and underdogs). Whenever we come into a big tournament, there is always a talk about it. I believe, we just need to play well and have a great mindset on that particular day,” he added.
The Indian captain further said that no player is carrying a niggle or injury and the entire squad is available for selection.
“Yes, All 15 players are fit and available for selection.”
Talking about the challenge that ICC tournaments bring, Rohit said: “It’s a challenge to come out and win the ICC tournaments. The opportunity always comes, and we have it now. We’ll have to focus on certain things to make it right.
“We can’t go onto the field thinking we haven’t won the World Cup since long. The more we keep things simple, our job will be done better.”
Commenting on the Australian conditions, Rohit said: “I’ve been hearing about the Melbourne weather for quite a while now. We had a good training session today and we’ll go back, get rest, and return tomorrow.”
“A lot of guys have never been to Australia. So that’s the reason we came here early. We were lucky enough to have time on our hands and prepare before we came here to Melbourne.
“We have been going through a lot of numbers these days, like who has been successful in Australia. When it comes to Playing XI, we don’t want to get stuck but to remain open
“We play a lot of matches in India. The boundaries in comparison are shorter. Let’s see what the boys do in Australia.”
Team India endured a dismal T20 World Cup campaign in UAE last year as they failed to qualify for the semi-final, but Rohit Sharma said that the team had addressed what went wrong and will look to execute the plans this time around.
“We have had a good run, wanted a change a lot of things, addressed what went wrong for us in last World Cup.
“It’s time to execute those plans and ideas we have been discussing. We want to do as much things right as possible.”
(Firstpost inputs)
