Rohit Sharma said that he currently has no issues with playing “all games” in bio-secure environments. The Indian team will be addressing the fitness issues of all players including Rohit Sharma and former India wicketkeeper-batter Saba Karim believes the skipper wants his players to remain fit and available with two World Cups lined up.
The home assignment against Sri Lanka is India’s second hurdle before the 2022 T20I World Cup and the team has undergone some changes due to injuries and the non-availability of players. While senior players Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant have been rested for the series, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Suryakumar Yadav, and Deepak Chahar have been forced to miss the T20Is due to injuries.
Rohit Sharma Doesn’t Have Much Time Before The 2022 T20I World Cup And 2023 ODI World Cup And He Expects Players To Perform And Stay Fit: Saba Karim
A confident Indian unit will eye another series win. While the focus remains on continuing the winning momentum, India will also look to find the perfect team combination in the lead-up to this year’s T20 World Cup.
A lackluster show in the previous 2021 T20I showpiece event led to the Indian team’s early exit and putting up a much-improved show in the impending edition will perhaps be a high-priority objective for newly appointed skipper Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid.
“Rohit Sharma’s biggest targets are the T20 World Cup this year and the 50-over World Cup in 2023. He does not have much time and he wants players to perform up to expectations and stay fit. It seems like he feels it is important to address this fitness issue. Often uncomfortable questions are not asked in Indian cricket,” said Karim on a podcast.
With workload management coming into the picture, the team management will try experimenting with players and Saba Karim feels Rohit Sharma needs to find the solution to help India end their trophy drought at ICC events.
“Solutions need to be found for these problems, the right players need to be picked and backed. This is Rohit Sharma’s role. His style of addressing the issue may be different, but the intention is right,” he added.
Team India won their 10th successive T20I match in a row as they defeated Sri Lanka by 62 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Opener Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer’s fifties helped the hosts score 199 after they were asked to bat first, in reply, Sri Lanka couldn’t chase down the 200-run target, handing India a big win and a place in the history books as well. In reply, the visiting team could only muster up a total of 137/6 after a troublesome start.
Saba Karim: It Remains To Be Seen How Rohit Sharma Reacts To Defeats
Rohit Sharma the captain is seen as a cool customer who gives freedom to his players to express themselves. But the full-time Indian leader was spotted losing his cool in the series against the West Indies. Saba Karim pointed out how Rohit Sharma’s outbursts don’t mean that has a grudge against the player.
“There is no malice but a sense of innocence in Rohit’s outbursts. And players accept it. But we saw some of those expressions when MI was struggling last season. All the players know that this is how Rohit is on the field and off it as well. But yes, there are many challenges in store for him. We are winning now, so it remains to be seen how he reacts to defeats,” Karim further added.
Playing his 115th innings for team India, Rohit Sharma surpassed Martin Guptill’s T20I tally of 3299 runs which the latter had scored in 108 innings. The Mumbai batter, after today’s innings, has amassed a total of 3307 runs in 123 T20Is at an average of 33.07, with the help of 26 half-centuries and 4 centuries.
Placed at the third spot, is India’s former skipper Virat Kohli, who has accumulated 3296 runs across 89 innings at an average of 51.50. Rohit Sharma has led India 26 times in T20Is and has a wonderful record, winning 22 matches and his winning percentage is 84.61 per cent. Rohit Sharma led India had earlier won the T20I series 3-0 against West Indies in 2022.