After the series against New Zealand soon after the T20 World Cup in Australia, India are all set to take on Bangladesh and veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan said their upcoming series against Bangladesh is “a more practical journey towards the (2023) World Cup”. However, the next 50-over World Cup will be held in India but India captain Rohit Sharma said that it’s too early to start thinking about that.
Rohit said that they have a “fair idea” about their plans for the World Cup. He said, “I mean, see, every time we play a game, it’s a preparation for something that is going to come in the future. But the World Cup is still 8-9 months from now. We cannot think so far ahead. But yeah, we will keep an eye on what we need to do as a team, where we can improve, and how it comes along for us. I think it’s very, very important for us not to start thinking about so many things about the World Cup; this is the combination, that is the combination, we need to play this guy, that guy.”
“I and the coach have a fair idea about what we want to do and we will narrow it down once we get closer to the World Cup. But I think we just want to play cricket, play good cricket until the World Cup comes up. But first, winning the series is what we are looking at. We are looking at one game at a time and seeing how we can play well in that game. And then think about the second and third. So, thinking too far ahead sometimes doesn’t help,” Rohit Sharma continued.
ALSO READ: Fans react as the first Test between INDvNZ ended in a draw
Meanwhile, India would love to win the series as the last time when they toured way back in 2015, they went down to a Mustafizur Rahman-led side as well.
“I think it has been an exciting rivalry for all these years. You know the last seven-eight years, Bangladesh cricket team has been a different team, they are a very challenging team and we didn’t have easy wins against them. You have to play good cricket to win against them. And every time we played them it has been a very close game. Even in the T20 World Cup it was a close game. In 2015, we lost the series here. We know they are a very improved team in the last few years. So we have to play our best cricket to win this. It is not going to be easy for us,” he further added.
READ HERE: Wasim Jaffer names batting-order for 2nd Test vs New Zealand
“Very much, yes (whether India will be under some pressure from the crowd). The crowd here can be intimidating. There is no doubt. They are very passionate fans of cricket and they get right behind the team. Which is pretty exciting for the team. For us, a lot of the guys are coming to Bangladesh for the first time. But that doesn’t change a thing. We are used to playing in such big crowds, especially when you tour places like England and Australia, the crowd there can also be quite intimidating and they want to make sure that their team wins. They want to get behind their team. It’s the same thing here as well. But I think it’s not going to affect our boys too much. I think they are used to being under pressure, being in front of a lot of people, and being challenged. So, I don’t think that’s going to make much of a difference,” Rohit Sharma concluded.
