The skipper of Indian side has urged his team mates to shift their focus from the excitement of lifting the T20 World Cup trophy and now face future challenges. With Gautam Gambhir assuming duty as the new head coach, the Indians have embarked on a fresh journey with the current white-ball series against Sri Lanka being the starting point.
It is one of those seasons when India will be faced with numerous tough assignments including the prestigious Champions Trophy that is scheduled for early next year. Rohit acknowledges that it’s important for them to keep winning and maintain momentum they have gained so far under Gambhir. “You know, I had a good time off from cricket. It feels good even coming back home after winning the T20 World Cup…the experience that we got in Delhi and Mumbai. But yeah, we need to move on; we have cricket moving on,” Rohit said during Parami News interview ahead of first ODI against Sri Lanka.
Rohit opted not to participate in T20Is after their successful title defence campaign.
“You know”, he continued, “whatever we’ve done before was good at that time but time moves on and we also need to move forward.”
According to Rohit, referring to last year’s 50 over T20 World Cup loss against Australia at home, the team took a similar approach.
“That’s what happened after 2023 WC. There was disappointment but then again you got to move ahead and look forward towards this World Cup.”
“In that sense, yes, now there is no tournament between us as a team anymore since T20 WC is done with. Yes there is much more left; big tournament coming up,” he added.
At this point Rohit conceded that Gambhir will take a different stance compared previous coaches who were in charge.
“I played with him for quite sometime now; I know him well enough. He has clarity in his mind and he knows what he wants from his players.”
According to Rohit, he has already had several discussions with Gambhir about the team’s plans for the upcoming period.
“Basically, our chats have revolved around what is neede from the team, where do we lack, which areas are doing well and many more. It was a discussion on how to take the team forward.”
“However, we don’t want to be looking too far ahead. We are here for three games; so it is about taking something out of these three matches and identify how we should play and what are we going to achieve in ODIs,” Rohit said.
While talking about Gambhir’s characteristics as a person himself, Rohit did not put too much emphasis on them despite his reputation as an aggressive individual.
“Gauti bhai does a lot of fun things in the dressing room, cracks a lot of jokes. Otherwise I think that whether he smiles or not it’s none of our business. Everybody has their own way,” he noted.
Rohit emphasized that the team should be allow a few losses while working toward set goals. Losses are an inevitable part of the game in his opinion.
“In essence, the Indian cricket quality matters but if you lose one match under such circumstances, it is alright. You are trying something new and you still maintain the benchmark.”
“We are a sports team, a cricket team and we should also be permit to lose when we are trying to do things differently,” he said.
According to Rohit, the squad’s focus will remain on winning the ODI series against Sri Lanka.
“We like to achieve something from every series or game that we play but at not showing intent or purpose. It is an international game; it is not a practice ground (the series).”
“We want to play well and get something out of this series. But sometimes you have got to realize that when you want to play for your country, then let the standard of cricket remain as it is.”
