Rohit Sharma, Team India’s newly-appointed captain of the limited-overs format, has opened up on India’s poor show in ICC competitions since 2013, but he claimed that they haven’t done much wrong in the mega-events. He again added that India have failed to get the “extra inch” of success in the last seven ICC events and six of which concluded for a losing cause in finals or semi-finals as well.
However, Rohit Sharma has replaced Virat Kohli as the limited-overs captain recently. He has been given the responsibility to make the team perform to its best level in at least the next two World Cups in the upcoming two years as well.
While speaking to BCCI.tv, Rohit Sharma said: “The last ICC trophy we won was in 2013. Since then we haven’t won but I don’t [think] we did anything wrong after that Champions Trophy. We played as a team, performed as a team, it’s just that we couldn’t get that extra inch that we always look forward to. That can happen, you know, international cricket is very demanding. But that is the challenge. We are all professionals and we need to put the right step forward and make sure that we try and count and put all those things in the right bag…”
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However, India last won an ICC title way back in 2013 when they won the Champions Trophy under MS Dhoni. After that, both Dhoni and Virat Kohli failed to win thrice each. The latest one was India’s group-stage exit from the T20 World Cup 2021 as well when they started with two consecutive losses against Pakistan and New Zealand respectively which left many surprised and their performance came under the scanner.
Rohit Sharma, however, has won the IPL titles five times and he was given the responsibility of the limited-overs format as well. Moreover, the BCCI has appointed Rahul Dravid the new head coach after Ravi Shastri’s term has ended with the T20 World Cup 2021. Rohit’s journey as a captain has started with a 3-0 win over New Zealand. His next series will be against South Africa as well.
He further added: “Yeah, there are a lot of World Cups coming up and India will definitely be eyeing to do well in all those World Cups for sure. Our focus, yes of course we have to win championships but there’s a process that we need to follow as a group because you know, if you want to win the championships there are a lot of other things that you need to first take care of then focus on the end goal. Again, from me, the message to the boys will be to not think about the finals and all of that, just focus on the process which is important, to keep ticking the small boxes that are in front of us and then we’ll look at what’s our end goal.”
Rohit also applauded Rahul Dravid for bringing a ‘sense of relaxation’ in the dressing room as well.
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“Working with Rahul bhai, I mean it was only three-odd games but it was fantastic. We have seen how he’s played his cricket – very tough, hard. And at the same time, there’s a sense of relaxation as well, you know, because it’s important to keep the atmosphere light and cheerful when you are doing a job on the field which is so demanding,” Rohit again said.
“You need to have an atmosphere where people can relax, just chill around, those kinds of things. It’s only been a little while but I have had so many interactions with him in the past about the game, about my personal game so it’s good to have him on board. And ya, it’ll be a very fruitful one I hope for the future,” Rohit Sharma concluded.
