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).
On the eve of the marquee clash, India skipper Rohit Sharma addressed a press conference and spoke on a number of topics, which includes dealing with the challenge of facing Pakistan and ending India's ICC trophy drought.
"Pressure is constant. I term it as a challenge to win against Pakistan. Also we haven't won an ICC event for nine years and with a team like this, it is disappointing," Rohit said in the pre-match press conference.
With his answers, the Indian captain has impressed batting legend Sunil Gavaskar, who believes Rohit’s comments were appropriate and it would give him and his teammates the encouragement to raise their game during the T20 World Cup in Australia.
"Definitely, if you look at it as pressure, you are going to feel the pressure, if you look at it as challenge, then there is always that incentive to overcome the challenge," Gavaskar told India Today.
"And I think that is a very nice way of the captain to put it to the public as well as his team - yes, it will be a challenge to beat the Pakistanis after they beat us last time in the World Cup, it will be a challenge against their bowling, it’s going to be a challenge how to bowl to them.
"The moment you put it across as a challenge, it becomes an incentive for everyone to raise their game," he added.
The Men in Blue have left no stone unturned in their preparations for the showpiece tournament. Before the World Cup, India defeated Australia and South Africa in a bilateral T20I series at home and arrived in Australia in the first week of October to acclimatize to the conditions.
"No question about it. They have taken all the possible precautions to come totally prepared for this. Coming to Australia, getting used to the body clock is one of the biggest challenges. It sometimes takes more than 4-5 days to get used to the body clock and get used to the Australian time. That’s a big challenge when you go to Australia and New Zealand. When you have come 20 days before, they have been able to overcome it.
"More importantly, as a team, they have been able to gel together," Gavaskar remarked.
