Indian skipper Rohit Sharma believes that the Indian team has done exceedingly well in recent times in International cricket despite not winning a single ICC trophy in the last 10 years and wants every player to be available in full fitness to win the elusive championship in the future.
The 36-year-old failed to lead the Indian team to the ICC title in the 2022 T20 World Cup–and in the recently-concluded World Test Championship final against Australia in Kennington, Oval. India suffered a humiliating 209-run loss against the Pat Cummins-led side in the ultimate final.
Speaking to the reporters ahead of the game against West Indies, Rohit Sharma wants all the players to be available for the team selection going into the mega event and said that the team has been playing some good cricket for a long time and ruins a lack of luck for the team in the World Cup and added that winning a championship is their foremost aim going forward.
“Firstly, I want everyone to be available. All my players, I want them to be available 100 per cent. I don’t want any injury concerns. That’s first and foremost,”
“I feel that as long as you keep ticking the boxes, keep playing good cricket, things will fall into place. Overall the years, we have done a lot of good things. It’s just that sometimes you want luck to be on your side as well.
“Over the last five-six years, we have probably won everywhere, but yes, winning championships are important as well. Until we get that championship, we are going to keep fighting hard for it,” Rohit Sharma said.
Since India’s victory in the 2013 Champions Trophy, India has advanced to the ODI World Cup semifinals in 2015, the T20 World Cup final in 2016, the ODI World Cup final in 2019, and the 2021 and 2023 WTC Final but could not go one step further in the big tournaments.
There Will Be A Different Challenge In This Cycle – Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma feels that every series that the team is playing is a challenging one, especially with the start of the next World Test Championship Cycle and said that the team was desperate the win the championship in the last WTC Cycle and added that the next WTC cycle will be a different challenge with new players coming into the Indian setup.
“Every series that you play for India is challenging. Be it a new WTC cycle or the last one or one in between, every game is important. We played two finals in two cycles, but could not achieve what we wanted. This a new team, there are a lot of new players. There will be a different challenge in this cycle,” Rohit Sharma added.
With India failing to win a single ICC trophy over the last decade or so, as they failed to cross the knockout stages to win the elusive trophy, many believe that it is the right time to bring new faces into the team, who can take the baton forward for the Indian team for the future.