Rohit Sharma doesn’t want to lose his sleep over the T20 World Cup which is still some distance away and thereby lose his grip on the present where come Wednesday, India have a series to win against a competitive West Indies side in Mumbai.
India will lock horns with two-time World Champions in series-deciding third match at the Wankhede Stadium even as the preparations to find the right combinations for the marquee event in Australia continues.
“See, I don’t want to keep saying that we are trying to build a squad for the (T20) World Cup. It is still a long-long way ahead. We just need to focus on winning the series and that will keep us in good state, moving forward,” Rohit said on Tuesday ahead of the series finale. “If we keep winning games, keep doing the right things on the field, the composition of the team will take care.”
Praise for Pollard
Rohit was also full of praise for West Indies captain Kieron Pollard,who has seen from close quarters and believes that his longtime Mumbai Indians teammate has been responsible for a transformed West Indies side in white-ball formats.
“I know Pollard really well and he has a great knowledge about the game. I know as a leader what he would be expecting from the team. Under his leadership, it is a different team that we are seeing now, so yes, we have to be at our best when we play them,” said Rohit.
“He (Pollard) is a very smart player, smart thinker and he has been the captain of the team. When it comes to Mumbai (Indians), he has always been part of the leadership group and last year when I wasn’t available for one game, he captained MI. So, he has always been part of the leadership group and I know how he thinks.”
West Indies beat India by eight wickets in the second ODI in Thiruvananthapuran on Sunday to level the three-match series and Rohit agreed that the Caribbeans are unpredictable as a side.
“They are very unpredictable as a team, you never know what they can come up with on a given day, like we saw the other day. Even the first game, they played very well and it was Virat’s (Kohli) brilliance that got us over. But with West Indies this is always expected and they play well as a team,” Rohit, who is due to a good knock, said.
“We have got to stick to our plans, back it and execute it in the middle. Last game we made some mistakes on the field, whether it was with the bat, ball and also on the field. We know where we lacked as a team so we just need to tighten up in those areas and make sure that those mistakes are not repeated again and again.”
He said it’s challenge for Indian bowlers to bowl at the West Indies batsmen.
“We just need to be thinking as if it is a good challenge to come against a team like West Indies where they have got some power-hitters all the way through. So it is a good challenge for our bowlers to bowl against a team like that where you know every second ball they will come and try hit a six,” the India vice captain added.
(With PTI inputs)
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