Skipper Rohit Sharma doesn’t want to mess things up by “thinking too far ahead” of the ODI World Cup and said he and head coach Rahul Dravid have a “reasonable idea” of how they would approach the showpiece that will be held in India in October held – November next year. Asked if World Cup preparations will begin with the three-game ODI series against Bangladesh kicking off here on Sunday, Rohit made it clear there is still time before his team can start thinking specifically about the big event. “Every time you play a game you are preparing for something. The World Cup is still 8-9 months (10 months) from now. We can’t think that far ahead. We have to keep an eye on what to do if team,” Rohit told media persons ahead of the first ODI.
He said if he starts planning too early it won’t help, but he also made it clear that the team’s think tank knows the direction to go.
“It’s very, very important for us not to think about so many things. Like we have to play this or that guy. Me and coach (Dravid) have a good idea what to do. We’ll narrow it down as soon as we get closer to the World Cup,” he added.
Workload management has to be on the road for two and a half months with some
Some players, such as wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, will be more than two and a half months away with this Bangladesh series and the skipper stressed the need for workload management.
He admitted that there is a lot of cricket being played and it just won’t stop. It is the team and the people around it who have to do the right things.
“As professionals we have to keep the intensity. Yes there is a lot of cricket and that’s why we give them breaks. And people need to understand that when we give players a break it’s only to manage the workload and have the bigger picture in mind.
“Cricket doesn’t stop. There will always be a lot of cricket and we have to manage our players. You want your best players to play at a higher intensity all the time. Freshness is very important,” Rohit explained.
He then gave an insight into his team’s grueling program of the past few months.
“A lot of the guys have been on the road for the World Cup and we had two back-to-back series against Australia and South Africa. And then we went straight to Australia. It’s been two and a half months. It’s impossible in this time when you always play with your best 15. That’s not going to happen,” he was blunt.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)
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