Rohit Sharma: There is no disadvantage. You know, you feel nice about playing in front of your home crowd. They get behind you no matter what the situation of the game is.
Rohit Sharma: In my overall experience playing, not just in India, but even outside India, we get massive support. So, I have so far never experienced where, you know, the crowd has gone against us or anything like that.
So, I look at this as a good advantage, a big advantage, but we know that eventually, it boils down to playing good cricket. And whatever it takes to win the game, you got to do that.
So, yes, you can use the support, but eventually, you have to play good cricket to win the game. All the guys are quite used to playing in front of big crowds. So, you know, like I just said, now, it can only work in your favor. It cannot work against you.
You know, a lot of the guys in the team love the big crowd, the cheer, the noise in the ground. So, yeah, the boys really enjoy it. You know, like I said, anywhere we go, people turn out in huge numbers. And that is, you know, good for the team and also good for the sport in general as well. I’m not on social media for the past nine months now.
So, everyone has their own way of dealing with it. Some people like it, some don’t. But that’s not my place to tell anyone how to do it. You know, they have to work out their own way of dealing with these things.
Like I said many times before, in the context of it, yes, it’s a massive game. But for us, what is important is, you know, we are playing an opposition tomorrow, which will be quality. So, we just got to, you know, come against quality opposition and play good cricket, which we’ve done in the last two games.
And hopefully, we can again, you know, show some consistency in our performance and play a good game of cricket. Shubman had a hit at the Nets yesterday. So, how is he health-wise, and is he available for selection tomorrow? 99% he’s available. Not a lot, to be honest. You know, I know what are the things that I need to do to find success on the field in terms of me as a player and then me as a captain.
But speaking of just the player first, the batter, I think there are certain boxes, you know, for me that I have to tick before every game, just to get you that confidence. You know, for me, preparation is very important.
I said at the start of the World Cup that I needed to prepare well to get into the tournament. And I thought I’d done everything that I could from my side to prepare well for each game. Because we know every day is a new day, a fresh day, and you start your fresh day as a new challenge.
What you’ve done in the past, what you’ve done yesterday, doesn’t really matter too much. You can take a bit of confidence from that.
But, you know, like we know in sports, every day is a fresh day. You play different opposition, they bring you new challenges, and you just have to be ready to face that challenge and confront that challenge.
So I think for me as a batter, you know, that is something that I’ve really focused on, getting myself ready in however way I can and whatever it takes for me to get ready for any game. I have to do that.
And I’ve done that really well mentally, you know, understanding my game, which is very important, and I’ve understood my game, what is my game and what is the team’s requirement from my game and from my, you know, ability.
So I think I try and do all of that to the best of my ability. If it comes out, it comes out. If it doesn’t, it’s okay. You know, as long as I know that before entering the game, I’ve ticked all the boxes, I’m happy with that.
I don’t know how much of a factor it is going to be because in Delhi we were expecting you to come in. You didn’t come. Chennai also it was after probably 30 overs.
So you are done with 75% of the game by then. So I don’t think toss is going to play a massive factor. It is what the team is comfortable doing. Whether it is chasing first, hosting a total, whatever that is. Whatever the team is comfortable doing, we try and do that.
I don’t know honestly. I still haven’t looked at the pitch yet. But we are ready for whatever combination we want to play. That’s the challenge going forward for us as a team. Depending on what kind of conditions we play in.
If there is a change or two we need to make, we will be ready with that. And the guys have been informed very well in advance about these kinds of changes. So I don’t think it is going to be any issues with the players.
But if the requirement is there for us to play 3-spinners, we will play 3-spinners. I don’t believe in psychological advantage. Because you have to play good cricket every day. So for us as a team, it is very important that we don’t pay too much attention to what has happened.
And we should pay attention to the fresh day, the fresh opposition. So we will start both the teams evenly. I don’t think there is any favorite or underdog. Both teams are equal before they go into the game.
Just about handling the pressure, and dictating terms in your own way. All these things matter. So I think it is more important for us how we are going into the game. Whether it is the first bowling or the first batting. How we are starting. And then carrying that forward, carrying that momentum forward is something that is crucial.
For us, tomorrow’s match is a match in front of the opposition. We will see that match in the same way we have seen two matches. And we will see the upcoming matches. There is no need to think too much or too little.
We will prepare for every game in the same way. And the message will be the same for all the boys. There is no need to do anything different. The rhythm is very important. If you look at the second half, the momentum is very important.
Our bowlers, in the last 7-8 matches that we have played in India, and before that in Sri Lanka, and even there we have played 2-2 matches. The bowlers have shown a very good performance. Whether it is spinners or swimmers, whenever they have a chance to put pressure, that’s when they have put pressure.
There were some matches where we were put under pressure. Like in Rajkot, Australia made 350 runs. We were put under pressure. There are such matches where you get to learn a lot. Our bowlers also got to learn a lot from that game. What we did well and what we did not do well. The 350 runs that we made.
So we talk about those things. How to bring improvement in it. And in batting, I will say the same. All the batsmen have made runs in the last 8-9 games that we have played. From the top to 8th, all the batsmen have got batting.
The batsmen have made runs. All in all, I think it is about the rhythm. All the boys are in a good rhythm. And it is always nice to go into any World Cup game with that kind of rhythm. And that confidence.
I think all the boys have that momentum and rhythm. That’s the good thing about this team right now. It doesn’t matter what wicket we play. We come here knowing that this is the wicket. I don’t decide what wicket we need to play.
Whether it is black, we have got guys who can adapt to that kind of conditions. Red soil, of course, we have got guys who can adapt to that kind of pitch. Because these are all Indian cricketers. We are playing in all of these conditions.
I don’t think, as captain, I prefer playing in any kind of conditions. It is something that we have done really well over the last few years. As a team, we have got guys who can adapt to different kinds of conditions as well.
That is something that gives us confidence as well. Going into any sort of conditions. Whether it is a spinning pitch, ceiling track, or flat pitch. We have got the guys who can do the job for us.
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