Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team is all set to face Kane Williamson-led New Zealand in a nail-biting semifinal clash of the ICC Men’s World Cup 2023 at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on 15 November.
Ahead of the high-intensity match, the Indian skipper addressed the press in Mumbai, where he was asked how the toss would be a factor.
To this, Sharma said, as news agency ANI quoted, “I have played a lot of cricket here and just 5 or 6 games are not going to tell a lot about what Wankhede is, but I certainly believe that Toss is not a factor.”
Apart from this, Sharma was asked whether the team thinks about what happened in the 2019 World Cup. “In the back of your mind, you know what has happened in the past but what has happened in the past is the past,” he replied.
“What you can do today and tomorrow is what we usually talk about. I don’t think there is much debate or talk about what happened 10 years ago or the last World Cup,” news agency ANI quoted him as saying.
On Rahul Dravid:
Rohit Sharma credited head coach Rahul Dravid for backing players to the hilt in the 2023 edition of the ICC World Cup. He said, “I don’t have a mantra. As a captain, if you have decided this is how you want to play then you must have clarity. You have to back the players to the hilt. We have backed certain players whom we have given certain roles. We’ll back players and stand with them. We have to give credit to Rahul Dravid for buying into that thought and not shuffle much when it doesn’t come off. We’ll continue to do that in future as well. Role clarity and giving guys the freedom. One moment was when all four of us bowled and crowd enjoyed the moment,” Rohit added.
2019 World Cup:
India, which had been unbeaten in the ongoing World Cup tournament, was beaten by New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup semifinal at Old Trafford Cricket Ground by 18 runs.
Batting first, New Zealand scored 239 runs after losing 8 wickets, while India were all out at 221. In that match, for India Ravindra Jadeja scored 77 runs, while Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit a half century.
‘New Zealand most disciplined team’:
“New Zealand is probably the most disciplined team. They play smart cricket, they understand the opposition very well. They understand the mentality of the opposition. They have been very consistent playing semis and finals of all ICC tournaments,” Rohit told reporters.
With agency inputs.
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Updated: 14 Nov 2023, 09:35 PM IST