India’s new ODI and T20I captain Rohit Sharma has opened up on the importance of not focusing on the outside noise and only focusing on the task at hand as well. He wants his teammates to prioritize their performance for the team to the best level as well.

In a video uploaded by the BCCI on its Twitter handle, Rohit stated that there is always high pressure whenever Team India takes the field. But he also believes that the team should only focus on things that are in their control.

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He said: “When you are playing for India, there will always be high pressure. But for me, personally, as a cricketer, it is important for me to focus on my job, not to focus on what people are talking around because you can’t control that. And that is the message to the team as well. Even the team understands that. When we are playing a high profile tournament, there will be a lot of talks. It is important for us to focus on what we have in hand, which is to go and win games. Play like you are known to play. The talks on the outside are immaterial for us.”

Rohit Sharma, who took over the T20I responsibility from Virat Kohli after the T20I World Cup, was named India’s ODI skipper last week. He will begin his tenure as a full-time captain in the 50-over format with the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa as well. Notably, Rohit earlier led India to the Asia Cup title in 2018.

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“It’s important what we think of each other. We want to create a strong bond between the players and that is what will help us do what we want to. And Rahul bhai (Dravid) will help us achieve that,” concluded Rohit Sharma.