ICC World Cup 2023: England and New Zealand are set to clash in the inaugural match of ICC World Cup 2023 on Thursday at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. Team India will face Australia in Chennai on 8 October without playing any warmup match due to the rain disruption. Ahead of the first match of the World Cup, Team India skipper Rohit Sharma spoke with the news platform TheIndianExpress and opened up about multiple things like the pressure of the big tournament, India’s failure to win ICC trophies, leadership pressure, etc.
India has not won an ICC trophy since 2013 when the MS Dhoni-led Indian side lifted the Champions Trophy. Under the subsequent leadership of Virat Kohli and then Rohit Sharma, the long haul between two ICC trophies is frequently brought out, but skipper Rohit Sharma is not paying much heed to the debate to avoid putting himself unnecessarily under pressure.
“I’m not a person who overthinks too much. Yes, we have not won an ICC trophy in the last 10 years, but I’m not going to overthink that and put myself in a tough place where I’m not able to make a decision,” Rohit Sharma told IndianExpress in the interview.
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The fact that the 2023 edition of the ICC World Cup is hosted by India puts another level of pressure on Indian players. The last time India hosted the ICC World Cup in 2011, the Men in Blue lifted the trophy which keeps the fans optimistic about India’s chances in 2023. But, Rohit Sharma advised fans to avoid expecting what the team can’t control.
“What people are expecting we can’t control. In India wherever we go, be it airports or hotels, they say, ‘World Cup jeetna hai sir’ (You have to win the World Cup). It happens everywhere. It will never stop,” the Indian skipper said with a smile.
On World Cup pressure
Rohit Sharma also spoke on the pressure of playing a month-long tournament and described that how the ODI World Cup is different from other tournaments.
“A team needs to play 11 games to reach the World Cup final. The last time we played this format was in 2019, but to play 11 ODIs in one-and-half months is not easy. It’s a long World Cup. We don’t want any of our pacers to break down. Hence we have selected more of them,” Rohit Sharma said.
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Updated: 04 Oct 2023, 02:44 PM IST
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