Last Updated: March 08, 2023, 12:37 PM IST
Team India captian Rohit Sharma at the Narendra Modi stadium (AP)
Rohit Sharma at the pre-match press conference said that “more than skills, it’s about how you mentally prepare” as Team India “can’t change a lot of things in three weeks”
With a second successive World Test Championship final berth on the line, India captain Rohit Sharma said that ‘there’s a job at hand’ as they take on Australia in the fourth and final Test in the Border Gavaskar Trophy at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad starting Thursday.
Around 100,000 spectators are expected on the opening day to witness Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese watch a cricket match for the first time in a stadium named after the former.
“PM of both countries are coming, it’s an exciting time. For players, there’s a job at hand and the talk is to win the Test match,” Rohit Sharma said at the pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
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Rohit said that “more than skills, it’s about how you mentally prepare” as Team India “can’t change a lot of things in three weeks”.
With so much talk about the pitch being used for the 4-match Test series against Australia, Rohit said: “Any Test you play, leave the conditions out of it. Find ways to score runs, that’s the talk within the group.”
“Find your way to score runs no matter where you play,” he added.
“Maybe for the first time, tosses lost have meant games won in this series. We didn’t bat well enough in the last game, that’s what cost us the game.”
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When asked whether it was India winning the first two Tests with relative ease that lead to a defeat in the third, Rohit said: “Talks of being overconfident after first two wins are absolutely rubbish.”
“Ruthless, being ruthless is what comes to every cricketer’s mind. Not give an inch to the opposition. That’s the mindset we have. If it seems overconfident to outsiders, doesn’t matter to us,” he added.
There have been talks of Ishan Kishan’s inclusion in the team in place of KS Bharat but Rohit Sharma, like his coach, backed the right-handed batter-keeper.
“KS Bharat is new to DRS, something new for him. Give him more time to understand,” Rohit said.
“Slightly unfair to judge KS Bharat on these kinds of wickets. Need to give him some room. I told him to not worry, he will get enough time to prove himself,” he added.
“(Rishabh) Pant is a big miss, we know what he can do with the bat. And keeping he has done so well. Since Pant was not available, we got Ishan. Even when Ishan Kishan gets his chance, we won’t drop him after two games,” Rohit clarified.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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