NEWS
Follow UsAfter crushing England in the first two T20Is, India rested the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya for the Nottingham game. Even though the bowlers failed to hit the strap, Surya Kumar Yadav served everyone notice of the fact that why he is one of the best, if not the best, T20 players in the world at the moment.
The fact that every single player wanted to hit the ground running immediately instead of going for singles and doubles highlighted the new approach that India are taking at the moment. Rohit Sharma underlined that every batter is on board with the idea and they are ready to take extra risks in order to execute them.
"It's a bit of both, you know. We, as a team, want to play in a certain way and every player needs to buy into that thought process otherwise, you know, it's not gonna happen for you," Rohit said in his post-match press conference at Trent Bridge on Sunday (July 10).
"And all the batters who are part of this squad are willing to take that extra risk and go and see what extra they can do with the bat. You know, it's important to find out within yourself, to try and do different kinds of things and unless you try it you will never be able to find out. So I think it is something that we've been trying to do for a while now.
"And I have said it at the press conference at the start that some days, it might just come off, some days it might not. But we don't want to be afraid of going and taking that extra risk. That's how we're going to learn as a team and that's how we're going to move forward as a team as well. So it's everyone's thought process and everyone is quite comfortable with that idea as well. So yeah, that's the kind of direction the team is willing to move."
Even though Virat Kohli hasn’t really had an extended bad form in the T20Is, his form in the IPL compounded with form in other formats has hampered his batting drastically. The call for his head is more than ever, especially with Deepak Hooda sitting on the bench after a consistent run of form. Rohit, however, is unfazed by any of it, saying the team management don’t listen to the outside noise.
"It's not difficult at all for us because we don't listen to outside noise. Also, I don't know who these experts are and why they're called experts. I don't get that," Rohit said.
"They are seeing from outside, they don't know what's happening inside the team. We have a thought process, we make the team, we debate and discuss it and think a lot about it. The players [we pick] are backed, they are given opportunities. People on the outside don't know about it. So it's more important about what's happening within our team, that's important for me.
"Also, if you are talking about form, it goes up and down for everyone. The quality of the player doesn't go bad. We should always keep in mind when such comments are passed around. We're backing that quality. It's happened with me, it's happened with XYZ. There's nothing new. When a player has done well so consistently, then 1-2 bad series, it shouldn't be forgotten. It might take time for some to understand. But for us, inside and running the team, we know the importance. I'll request those on the outside, yes you have all the right to talk about it, but for us, it doesn't matter a lot,” the Indian skipper added.
