Indian captain Rohit Sharma said that no player has sealed his spot in the Indian squad for the ODI World Cup later this year. Meanwhile, injury concerns to KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer have forced the team to try out different players in different positions as well. And, Rohit feels that the upcoming Asia Cup will be another great challenge for them where they will understand what works for the team in the batting line-up and what the team combination is concerned about as well.
On the sidelines of a LaLiga event in Mumbai, Rohit Sharma said: “No one is an automatic (selection), even I am not. We have this thing where nobody is guaranteed a spot. We cannot say that ‘you are there after all’ or things like that. Yes, some players know that they are going to play but at this point in time, playing three ODIs in the West Indies was a good opportunity to look at a few guys. In the Asia Cup, again, we will face good opposition.”
READ MORE: Sanjay Manjrekar dissects Virat Kohli’s poor show in WTC Final
Rohit further added: “Shreyas and KL are coming off not playing anything for four months, big injuries, surgeries rather. Both had surgeries. I know, I had to undergo surgery once and how it feels afterwards, it is quite tough. We have to see, how they respond, what they do. The selection (meeting) will be there in a few days, we will have a good debate about what we can do. But honestly nobody is an automatic choice – they all have to fight for the spot – everyone has to, whether it is a top spot or a bottom spot.”
However, Rohit Sharma also doesn’t want the Indian team, especially the batting, to rely more on individuals. For this, he wants to see how players take to the pressure during the upcoming Asia Cup as well. Notably, India will open their Asia Cup campaign against Pakistan at Kandy on September 2 as well.
READ MORE: Harbhajan Singh says Australia have the upperhand in the WTC final
“We will see, we want to win but at the same time there are a lot of questions that we need answers of. But in the Asia Cup, I want to see some of the guys batting under pressure against quality teams. It is always nice to have a lot of names, rather than just one or two names. I hope they are fit in time – firstly that is the most important,” Rohit Sharma concluded.
