India vice-captain Rohit Sharma on Wednesday said his team is not seeing the upcoming five-match series against England in Ahmedabad as a dress rehearsal for the T20 World Cup at home later this year and remains focussed on winning it.
India have picked some fresh faces for the series while resting lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah as the team looks to build on its preparations for the showpiece event.
“We don’t see it as any rehearsal … We are not thinking too far ahead and focusing on winning the series,” Rohit said ahead of the series opener at Motera on Friday.
“If we focus on the present, the future will take care of itself. It’s a long series and it’s important to see where we stand as a team and individual.”
It will be interesting to see who among KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan opens alongside Rohit, who did not reveal much on the combination for the first game.
“I won’t be able to reveal the combination, we will have to wait and see till Friday,” he said.
The star Indian opener, however, said his role does not change and he would continue to bat the way he does.
“It’s about giving the team a good start if we bat first, nothing changes for me. When we chase, the approach is the same but the mindset changes as you have to calculate a lot many things.”
Rohit played against his natural style of attacking play against England during India’s first innings in fourth Test at turning Motera track where he made 144-ball 49 but the India limited overs deputy says it was need of the hour.
“I made just 49 runs but played about 150 balls … Personally for me, it was a big win for me. They were bowling outside and I was tempted to play my shots but I played against my nature. I curbed my instincts, restrained myself. It was really satisfying for me,” Rohit said.
“The challenge for me in Test cricket is the number of balls I face and not how many runs I make. I always think of playing 150-200 or even more balls, runs will come automatically. It’s a challenge for me and a small battle that I will win, it will be helpful for the team as well.”
His Mumbai Indians teammate Surykumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan earned their maiden India call-up for the series and Rohit, their IPL skipper, said both are bound to be nervous.
“It’s natural for them to feel nervous, thinking of performances but it will only put pressure on them. It’s about being relax and just have fun being part of this great Indian setup.
“It’s not going to be easy and there will be challenges every now and then but it’s how you respond to it will be crucial,” he said.
‘Hope Hardik is ready’
India vice-captain Rohit expects Hardik Pandya to contribute substantially with the ball in the T20 series, having seen him do “everything he could” to get back to his best following a back surgery that kept him away from bowling regularly in International cricket.
Pandya, who underwent his back surgery in October 2019, made a comeback with the IPL last year but did not bowl. He won India games with his batting in the limited overs series in Australia but he bowled only once across three ODIs and as many T20Is.
He was with the Test team during the recent England series and Rohit feels that helped him get ready for his responsibilities in white-ball cricket.
“Of course he’s been an integral part of the squad. He is been working on his bowling and batting, trying to sharpen those skillset. It’s been good month and a half that he’s been with the team in order to get ready for this limited overs series,” Rohit said.
“He’s done pretty much everything so it seems that time has come for him to get ready and start doing what he does.
“He has worked hard for his bowling and batting in this last few weeks. I hope he’s ready to do what the team expects from him.”
Thursday, 11 March 2021 | PNS | new delhi
