Ahmedabad, 18 November (Tezzbuzz). Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma on Saturday admitted that the World Cup final against Australia is the biggest moment of his and his teammates’ career. Rohit said that the team had been preparing for this day ever since he became the captain.
India and Australia will face each other in the final match of the World Cup 2023 on Sunday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
In the press conference held on the eve of the match, Rohit stressed the importance of sticking to his game and remaining calm rather than worrying about the opposition.
Rohit said, this is a big opportunity without any doubt. Everything we’ve ever dreamed of is here. The most challenging aspect for professional players is how you keep such challenges away from your mind and keep your focus. This is the biggest moment of our career and it is important to remain calm because this is where you can execute your plans better. It’s not every day you get a chance to play a World Cup final. I have grown up watching the 50-over World Cup so this will be the biggest opportunity for me.
Rohit said, ever since I became the captain, we have been preparing for this day. We had to identify players in the last 2 years as per the formats. We had clarified the roles and there was a lot of discussion between the captain and the coach. It is a big thing for us to reach this platform. We have tried our best to keep the mindset and roles clear. Everything has gone well so far, hopefully the same will happen tomorrow too.
Praising head coach Rahul Dravid’s work behind the scenes, Rohit said he has given everyone complete freedom to express themselves.
Rohit said, Rahul Bhai’s contribution is huge. He has given freedom to everyone.
He said, Rahul Dravid’s role has been huge, especially in terms of giving role clarity to the players. There’s a lot of contrast between how he plays his cricket and how I play my cricket and him agreeing on certain things, giving us that freedom, says a lot about him. What he has done for Indian cricket is huge and he also wants to be a part of this opportunity.
Rohit praised fast bowler Mohammed Shami and said, Shami is a proof of skill, determination and unwavering spirit. It was difficult for him not to play in the early part of the World Cup. But he was in the team to help Siraj and Bumrah. This shows that he has the quality of being a team man. We spoke to him about why he was not part of the team, but he continued to work hard and it shows the kind of mental state he was in before the tournament. It says a lot about him and once the opportunity opened up for him, he did brilliantly. We can see this from his performance.
Praising the bowlers, Rohit said, the bowlers have done a very good job for us in this tournament. We were chasing the target in the first four, five matches and it is not easy to restrict the opposition below 300 in India. Our fast bowlers and spinners have been excellent. Bumrah, Shami, Siraj have been excellent. Same thing for the spinners, when we wanted to take wickets in the middle overs, they kept taking them.
Regarding his open play, Rohit said, I had plans to play this kind of cricket before the World Cup started. I didn’t know if it would work or not. I wanted to express myself with some freedom. Even during the match against England, I changed my approach and every senior player does the same. I changed my strategy. I believe in going out there and keeping it easy and calm. It would be nice to do that because we have worked hard for it. I don’t want to get excited or put too much pressure on the players in the dressing room.
The teams of India and Australia will face each other in the title match of the World Cup 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Tezzbuzz News / Sunil / Sunil
