The Indian captain urged his team to shift their focus from the joy of the T20 World Cup victory to the challenges ahead. With the arrival of new head coach Gautam Gambhir, the Indian
team has a new start, starting with the white-ball series against Sri Lanka.The upcoming season will be full of challenging tasks for the Indian team, including the prestigious Champions Trophy scheduled for early next year.
Rohit understands the importance of maintaining the team’s winning momentum and building on the success achieved under Gambhir’s leadership.
“I took a break from cricket. It feels great to come home after winning the World Cup…we experienced that feeling in Delhi and Mumbai.”
After the winning season, Rohit decided to retire from T20Is.
“Whatever we did in the past was good for this season, but time is moving on and we have to keep moving forward,” he added.
Rohit said the team had adopted a similar strategy after losing to Australia in last year’s 50-over World Cup on home soil.
“It happened after the 2023 World Cup. There was a lot of disappointment but we wanted to move on and look forward to this World Cup.
“Now that the T20 World Cup is over, we need to think about the way forward as a team. Yes, there is a lot to look forward to and a big tournament is coming,” he added.
Rohit admitted that Gambhir’s strategy will be different from his previous ones.
“Now that the T20 World Cup is over, we need to think about the way forward as a team. Yes, there is a lot to look forward to and a big tournament is coming up,” he added.
Rohit admitted that Gambhir’s approach is different from those before him.
“Gautam Gambhir has played a lot of cricket and has been involved in franchise cricket before. Of course it will be different from the previous support team. Ravi Shastri was there before Rahul Dravid joined the team and everyone works differently.
“I have known Gambhir for a long time and we have played some cricket together. He is very clear-headed and knows what he wants from the team.”
Rohit said he discussed the team’s plans for the next season with Gambhir.
“Essentially, our conversations revolve around what the team needs, what are our weaknesses, where we are playing well and so on. It is a discussion about how we can take the team forward.
“But we don’t want to plan too far in advance. We are here for three matches and the idea is to take something from these three matches and figure out how we want to play and what we want to achieve in ODI cricket.”
Although Gambhir is known to be a passionate person, Rohit does not dwell too much on his idiosyncrasies.
“Gauti Bhai does a lot of funny things in the dressing room and tells a lot of jokes. Otherwise, I feel we should not pry into his personal life, whether he laughs or not. Everyone has his own way,” he pointed out.
Rohit stressed that the team should be allowed to suffer a few defeats while trying to achieve certain goals.
“On the finish of the day, the usual of Indian cricket is extra essential and whereas doing that when you lose a sport then it’s completely effective. You’re nonetheless attempting to do one thing totally different and you aren’t compromising on the usual.
“We’re a sports activities staff, a cricket staff, and we also needs to be allowed to lose whereas we are attempting to do issues otherwise,” he elaborated.
Rohit remained steadfast in his assertion that the staff’s focus wouldn’t shift from their goal of securing a victory within the ODI sequence in opposition to Sri Lanka.
“We need to obtain one thing out of each sequence or sport we play, however not at the price of not exhibiting intent or function. It (the sequence) is just not a observe floor. It’s a world sport.
“We need to play good cricket and obtain one thing out of this sequence. However generally, it’s important to perceive that, once you need to play for the nation, the standard of cricket ought to stay the best way it’s.”
