Rohit Sharma is back and how? By delivering a press conference only he is capable of. The India captain, addressing his first PC in over a month, sat down to take questions from the media two days before India’s home season kicks off with a Test series against Bangladesh. As the event got underway and progressed, Rohit’s answers were to the point. His facial expressions teased as if a Rohit-like answer was on its way, and even though it took until the very end of the press conference, it did come when Rohit was asked to comment on the Bangladesh team and what they are capable of.
Bangladesh, who made their Test debut against India in 2000, have their best chance of beating India. It is so because they are coming off a historic 2-0 series win in Pakistan and riding high on its confidence. The India-Bangladesh rivalry needs no introduction. Over the years, the once ‘younger brother’ has turned into more like a ‘noisy neighbour’, and it’s no different this time around. The chatter has already begun with captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and pacer Nahid Rana issuing indirect warnings to India, but as Rohit pointed out, none of it matters. Never has, never will.
“See, every team wants and likes to beat India. Mazze lene do unko. (Let them [Bangladesh] have fun). We need to win the match and that’s what we are here for. We can’t think about what they have to think and say about us. When England came here, they said a lot of things too. But we didn’t focus much on it. We needed to delivery results and that’ll be out aim here as well. To play good cricket. India have played against a lot of teams recently and out combined aim is to win, rather than keep thinking about the opposition,” Rohit said in Chennai on Tuesday.
All that matters for the India captain are the next 10 Test matches, the ambition to win them all and make it to the final of the World Test Championship third time in a row. After Bangladesh, India host New Zealand for three more Tests before touring Australia for the much-anticipated five-Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Bangladesh have never beaten India in a Test match. The closest they came to doing so was two years ago when India were tottering at 74/7 in chase of 145. But those ambitions went up in smoke because of Shreyas Iyer and Ravichandran Ashwin, who stitched an unbeaten partnership of 71 runs to see India home.
Rohit, who missed that series due to a finger injury, insists India won’t commit the mistake of taking Bangladesh lightly and surely doesn’t think the series starting Thursday and the one after that against New Zealand next month are ‘dress-rehearsals’ of any sorts.
Bangladesh series no dress rehearsal: Rohit
“Every Test match is a big one. We are playing for country there is no dress rehearsal happening. Every game is important. Because of what is at stake – WTC. Table is quite wide open. You want to play every game. We want to win here. Focus on winning the Bangladesh series rather than looking too far ahead. We are resuming after a long time. Nice to have everyone back. When it starts, we have to see where we stand and then take it from there,” he added.
Will the month-long break affect players’ performance?
For a set of players returning after a month-long break, it’s never easy to get in the groove instantly. Rohit is well aware of it, and hence, acknowledged that it won’t be regulation to jump into Test cricket straightaway. However, the skipper finds reassurance in the fact that players have faced this kind of situation earlier and have managed to find a way out with a lot of success. As for whether India winning the T20 World Cup is a monkey off their back and will allow players to play with a lot more freedom, Rohit pointed out there’s no fixed template. But rest assured, world champions or not, the team’s intent remains the same.
“It’s always tough to come back after a break. Good thing is a lot of guys are experienced with that. This is not the first time that we haven’t played for for a long time. Which is why it was important to have this camp in Chennai. We came on 12th and spent some good time. So yeah, it is tough, but people are experienced in the sense that they know now to manage themselves well. And guys who haven’t played much Test played, played the Duleep Trophy. So, in terms of preparation, we are ready for the game,” Rohit mentioned.
“I know there was lot of chatter with ICC tournament. If wo don’t win, talks will happen. We shouldn’t have lost and all that. With India it’s a different ball game. I’m an Indian cricketer so can only talk about India. Every series becomes important. We want to win and there’s no way that just because we won, we can sit back and enjoy. We, as cricketers, have limited time to play and make an impact. So you got to do your best. That’s what runs in mind most of the time.”
