Rohit Sharma, who is leading India in a world tournament for the first time, told BCCI.TV, “It’s been a long time since we won the World Cup.” “Obviously the motive and the whole thought process is to win the World Cup, but we know we need to do a lot to get there, so one step at a time for us.
“We can’t think too far ahead. You can’t really think about semi-finals and finals from now on, you just need to focus on each team you are going to come up against and try to do your best. And prepare well against each and every team. Make sure we head in the right direction.”
Despite being the pre-tournament favorites for the past several years, India have not won a World Cup since 2011. In the 2021 T20 World Cup, they failed to qualify for the knockouts.
Similarly, in the UAE, India will start its campaign against Pakistan this time in Melbourne on Sunday. While there is general hype and excitement around the game, Rohit said that India need to remain calm to get the results they want.
Rohit Sharma said, “We know it is going to happen – whenever we play against Pakistan it is always a blockbuster.” “People want to come out and see and feel the atmosphere, more than anything else. Obviously, they also want to enjoy cricket, but at the same time, in the stadium for the fans, the spectators, even the people watching. Atmosphere From home – it’s quite exciting.
“And for us as players, of course, it’s a big game – we’re starting our campaign. But, at the same time, we want to put ourselves quite at ease and what we have to do individually, Want to focus on that, because that’s going to be important to us. If individuals can keep themselves calm and restrained during the game, we’ll get the result we’re looking for.
He said he was “quite excited” about being captain in a World Cup, and the players were excited after conditions had adapted to them, with two matches against the Western Australia XI and one match against the Australian World Cup.
“It’s a great feeling, we’ve had two [series] wins [against Australia and South Africa], but it was at home,” he said. “Australia will be a different challenge. It was important for us to get used to the conditions. Some people have never been to Australia before, so we wanted to come here a little early and get used to the conditions.
“Things will be challenging but that’s why we got here early and as far as I’m concerned, when I see the whole group, they are quite excited.”