The Indian captain Rohit Sharma played speculations about his future in the international cricket on Wednesday and said it is not relevant to talk about his career at a time when he is “focused” on the three ODIs against England and the Champions Trophy. India will coordinate with the Champions trophy, from 19 February, with the three one-day internationals against England starting with the first in Nagpur on Thursday. “How it is relevant that I am talking about my future plans when there are three ODIs and a Champions trophy. The reports (about my future) are going on for a number of years and I am not here to clarify those reports,” said Rohit at the press conference before the competition.
“For me, the three games (against England) and the Champions trophy are very important. My focus is on these games and I will see what happens next,” added the India skipper.
The 37-year-old has been fighting a bad shape for a while and only manages 31 runs over five innings with a terrible average of 6.20 in the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.
Although there is no doubt that he is not soon looking for the international sunset, there were reports that the BCCI asked him to spell his future plans after the Champions trophy.
Now that India is now participating in ODI Cricket, a format in which Rohit has enjoyed good success, the skipper emphasized that he rather than hardening in the past, is aimed at the assignments that are for him.
“This is a different size, different time. If cricketers there will be ups and downs and I have confronted them a lot in my career. This is nothing new for me. We know that every day is a fresh day, every series is a fresh Series, “and Irate Rohit said when he was asked how confident he feels after his recent failure in cricket with red ball.
“I look forward to the challenge, not looking at what happened in the past. There is no reason for me to look behind too much.
It is important that I concentrate on what is going on and what lies for me. Look to try to start this series at a peak, “he added.
India has only played two ODI series – against South Africa and Sri Lanka – since their dominant run in the World Cup 2023, where they only lost one match – while they played an aggressive brand cricket under the direction of Rohit.
“There is a certain style and brand cricket that we want to play. Or that means we replicate what we have done in the World Cup, we will try to do that.” “But the World Cup was a year and a half ago, so we have to regroup and assess what is needed for this series.” The Indian skipper emphasized that the players in the team were sufficiently experienced to understand their roles and responsibilities.
“We don't have to instruct players how we can prepare for every series. They know what is expected of them. It's about getting together and going further where we left during the World Cup.
“If it takes some time, it is that way. It is not easy to immediately replicate what we did then. We have to start with fresh and building.”
Choosing between rahul and pants good headache
Rohit said that the choice between Kl Rahul and Rishabh Pant as a wicketkeeper of the team in ODIs is a good headache, but hinted that the first will probably retain his role.
Rahul had held Wickets in the absence of pant during the World Cup 2023, in which he performed with considerable success.
“KL has been keeping wickets in the ODI format for us for a number of years and he has done reasonably well. If you look at the last 10-15 odis, he has done exactly what the team required he had to do.
“Rishabh too, he's there. We have an option to play one of them. Both are quite able to win games themselves.
“It is a good headache to have if you want to play KL or Rishabh. But looking at what we have done in the past, having that continuity is also very important to us. That is where we stand as a team , “said Rohit.
India has added Varun Chakravarthy to the ODI team and Rohit said that the in-shape Mystery Spinner will have the chance to play if the chance occurs.
“Varun has certainly shown something else. I understand that it is a T20 format, but he clearly has something else to him. So we just wanted an option and see what we can do with him.
“If the series offers us the chance to play him at some point and we will see what it is capable of. At the moment we will not think about whether we are going to take it (to Champions Trophy) or not.
“But certainly, he will be contrary if things come out very well for us and he does what is needed.” Rohit threw his weight behind veteran Pacer Mohammed Shami who was included in the CT team despite an overwhelming domestic matches after his return of an injury.
“He didn't play a cricket for 1 or 1.5 years. Don't judge the player so quickly. He has been playing cricket for the past 10-12 years and has won us on his own.” Rohit added that the team is awaiting scan reports that will determine the availability of Jasprit Bumrah in the coming days.
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)
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