Last Updated:
Rohit Sharma was surprised by a question about his Test form affecting his white-ball confidence. He emphasized focusing on the upcoming ODI series against England.
Rohit Sharma was shocked by a reporter’s question in Nagpur. (Representative Photo, PC: AFP)
Indian captain Rohit Sharma was left shocked by a reporter’s question about his Test form’s impact on his white-ball confidence in the press conference on the eve of the three-match ODI series against England.
The skipper didn’t hesitate to cross-question, before adding that he was ‘looking forward to the challenge’ without caring too much about what happened in the recent past.
“Hi, Rohit. Confident, going out to bat in a format where you are nicknamed ‘Hitman’ despite not getting too many rus in the Test format?” the reporter asked in Nagpur.
“What kind of question is that?” Rohit replied with a chuckle. “This is a different format, a different time. As usual, as cricketers, we know there will be ups and downs. I have gone through it a lot. We know every day is a fresh day, every series is a fresh series. I am looking forward to the challenge. Not looking at what has happened in the past. Clearly, you don’t. For me, there is no reason to look at the past too much. It’s important I focus on what’s coming up and what lies ahead for me. I will look to start the series on a high.”
Rohit had a difficult second half of 2024, as his Test returns plummeted and India lost back-to-back series against New Zealand and Australia under his captaincy.
There were questions about whether he should retire from Tests and he even had to opt out of the last match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Sydney. These three ODIs will come as a breath of fresh air for him, considering how the format has been his best over the years.
We want to play a certain brand of cricket: Rohit Sharma
Speaking on the team’s approach for the series, Rohit suggested that it’ll be the same aggression they used in the 2023 World Cup, which worked brilliantly until the final against Australia.
“Look, there is a certain type of cricket that we want to play, a certain brand of cricket we want to play,” Rohit said. “And whether it means we have to go and do what we did in the World Cup, we will try and do that. But again, look, the World Cup was one and a half years back. So, clearly we need to regroup as a group now and think about what we need to do here. Obviously, there is a lot of experience in the squad. So, you can’t keep telling them exactly how we need to prepare for every series. They understand what is expected of the team. So, there is not much talking about what kind of approach we want to have,” he added.
