Team India skipper Rohit Sharma wants to do well as the batter and score big runs for the team going into the ODI World Cup 2023 as his captaincy would be secondary for the Indian team in the mega event later this year and also revealed the reason behind the senior players resting for the T20 Internationals.
The 36-year-old could not bring the best out of their players since he took up the mantle from ace batter Virat Kohli, as he failed to win a major trophy captaining the side in Asia Cup 2022, T20 World Cup 2022, and WTC Final 2023 and his form also dipped in all three formats of the game since his reign as the Indian skipper.
Speaking to the media, Rohit Sharma wants to perform well with the bat for the Indian team as his form will be crucial for the team’s success in the mega event in home conditions and said that they opted for the rest of the seniors for the T20 cricket to keep them fully fit for the ODI World Cup in India.
“I need to do first as a batter. Captaincy is secondary… my role in the team is more as a batter. Obviously to captain well as well, (but) first of all, I have to score big runs and win games for the team.
“Last year also we did the same thing — the T20 World Cup was there, so we didn’t play one-day cricket. Now also we are doing the same, the ODI World Cup is there, so we are not playing T20s,” Rohit Sharma said.
Indian team fell short of the title, despite doing well in the league stages of the tournament, as they lost the Champions trophy final in 2017, the Semifinals of 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cup, and the WTC final in 2021 and 2023 and the Rohit Sharma-led side will be pumped up to win the World Cup after 12 long years.
We Don’t Want Anyone To Miss The Key Events – Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma said that the Indian team management has been in constant touch with the BCCI to monitor the workload of the senior players in the team and asserted that the players will rest the players, who will be key for the team’s success in the mega event later this year.
“We had a discussion with the BCCI also that we need to look after the players well. Whenever we have an opportunity to rest players, we will rest players and rotate them. We don’t want anyone to miss the key events. A couple of our key players missed some big events in the last two years and we don’t want that,” Rohit Sharma added.
India has been dealing with a spate of injuries in recent times as they are in constant talk with the BCCI over workload management. ODI World Cup 2023 will be a big opportunity for India to end India’s drought in ICC events.