Sep 18, 2022, 8:33 PM IST
With the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 India squad already determined, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma wants his boys to get out of their comfort zone and begin exploring new specialities about their game in the upcoming six home matches against Australia and South Africa ahead of the global extravaganza in Australia from next month. Rohit also feels that his players can afford to stretch their 'limits' without any selection pressure on the side. The tram management is also expected to give rest to the likes of Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh during these six matches, but by and large, it will possess an entire squad at its disposal.
Rohit's comments arrive in the backdrop of its Asia Cup 2022 campaign, during which the team management experimented a lot and copped criticism for the same. "I wanted to bring security to the team. That is why we announced the team for both the series before the World Cup [Australia and South Africa]. In Asia Cup also we [somewhat] had the same team," he said during the pre-series press conference.
"In these six games, we want to keep trying what we can achieve with different styles. It is all about going out and trying to find ways to explore ourselves, but there is no limit to trying new things. You can extend yourself in many directions to achieve many things for the team," added Rohit.
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Former skipper and top-order batter Virat Kohli was out of his comfort zone during the Asia Cup, as he played a rare sweep shot, and Rohit wants his bowlers to push their limits too. "We will keep encouraging people to be more expressive. For example, someone who doesn't play a reverse sweep can play that and see if he can do it right."
"Someone can hit down the ground, things you are uncomfortable doing, you do that and see what happens. When you enter the [T20] World Cup, you should have all these answers. For bowlers, they can try opening the spell with a yorker or a bouncer," said the skipper. After the early exit from the T20WC in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last year, India was forced to change its batting approach. Rohit said the team would continue to play aggressively if it lost early wickets. The backup plan is in place.
"We will continue to play like that. We spoke about that clearly at the start of my [captaincy stint], and everyone is comfortable with that. At the same time, we know our second line of defence if we are in trouble. We spend a lot of time talking about these things," said Rohit.
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"Guys are obvious if we are 10 for three how we need to bat. Suppose we are 50 for no loss; how do we need to bat? These have been discussed at length. It is just about executing now," Rohit continued. India won against Pakistan and Hong Kong during the opening couple of matches in the Asia Cup before losing to Babar Azam and his men and Sri Lanka in the Super Four stage to get ousted from the Asia Cup.
"If you see our Asia Cup performance as well, we posted par plus or par scores in every game except the one against Sri Lanka where we got 173 which was also a good score. In Super 4s, we had close games against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It could have gone either way. It would be best if you had a bit of luck as well. Hopefully, we will get that in the World Cup," Rohit continued.
Rohit said more about the batting style: "This approach of ours has given us a lot of trusts that we can go out and play like that. It is a great sign. We will have another review meeting of the last ten months after these six games and will see what we need to do in World Cup."
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With seamer Mohammed Shami down with COVID-19, pacer Prasidh Krishna being injured and fellow pacer Mohammad Siraj playing county in England, pacer Umesh Yadav has been brought back into the T20 fold. As Shami's replacement, Rohit said Umesh was an uncomplicated selection, viewing his rich experience and swinging ability during the powerplay.
In pacer Jasprit Bumrah's scarcity, India's bowling lacked some edge during the Asia Cup. Now, with Bumrah back and full strength squad selected, Rohit is happy with the countenance of his bowling department. The skipper was incredibly impressed with pacer Arshdeep Singh's stint in the Asia Cup.
"The way Arshdeep bowled was imposing. How he landed yorkers under extreme pressure in his first year of international cricket is not easy. He is a brilliant guy and keeps things simple. We needed a left-arm seamer, and he has done well in IPL, and then he came here and has done well. We always wanted variety in our attack, and we have that now," concluded Rohit.
(With inputs from PTI)