"Want To Create Our Bench Strength": Rohit Sharma On India's Squad Rotation

10.08.2022 - 07:53 sports.ndtv.com

With cricket being played round the year, India captain Rohit Sharma feels having a solid bench strength is paramount, and the team is striving to build one with an eye on the future.

Since their shock group-stage elimination in the last T20 World Cup, India have been experimenting with their squads, with injury and workload management also playing a part in it. "We play lot of cricket, so there will be injuries and workload management, so we have to rotate players," Rohit said on Star Sports show 'Follow the Blues'. "But it gives our bench strength to go and play the game, which is why we could try so many other guys who are ready to take that international stage and perform," he added. "We want to create our bench strength, we want to make sure that India's future is in safe hands.

That's the planning that we are trying to have." Rohit is now gearing up to lead India in the upcoming edition of the T20 showpiece in Australia, but before that, they have the Asia Cup to deal with.

He said the objective should be to get better as a team everyday. "I don't know what next to expect but for me particularly, it's just about getting better every day as a team," said Rohit. "No matter if you win or lose the series, that cannot take priority.

cricket India Cricket Team on Rohit Sharma Ravi Shastri Australia India

The Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma sprung a big surprise at the toss of the Asia Cup 2022 match against Pakistan on Sunday when he announced that Dinesh Karthik would be playing in the XI ahead of regular wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant. "Having played here for a few years now, I thought having a score in front of us would be a good option. There is some grass covering and we want to exploit it. Rishabh Pant unfortunately misses out, we got out with Karthik. Avesh is the third seamer," Rohit said at the toss.

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Asia Cup, skipper Rohit Sharma said they just want to focus on their game as players and will aim for one match at a time. India will take on Pakistan on Sunday in their opening game of the T20I tournament. "When we are on the ground, fans want to see the match as well as meet players. As far as the rivalry is concerned when two quality teams play then we see a good match. As players, we just want to focus on our game. Our batting coach decides who will bat in the nets. Virat Kohli has looked in good touch. We have prepared hard for it," Rohit Sharma said in a press conference. "The mood in the camp is buzzing. What has happened is past. Take one game at a time. We will be focusing on that. We want to focus on the game. We have not decided on playing eleven. We will look at the pitch and decide accordingly," he added.

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The Asia Cup 2022 will see arch-rivals Indian cricket team and Pakistan cricket team facing each other on August 28. Every time these two teams face off on the cricket field, the focus and scrutiny on the match is intense. The last time the two teams played each other, at the 2021 T20 World Cup, Pakistan emerged victorious to register their first-ever win against India in a World Cup contest. Virat Kohli was the captain of the Indian side then, whereas Rohit Sharma is the skipper now.

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Rohit Sharma led Indian Premier League side Mumbai Indians to a record five titles before he became India's all-format captain. While he was handed the white-ball captaincy of the national team in December last year, Rohit was elected as the full-time Test captain of India in February, 2022. Talking about his style of captaincy, the right-handed batter said that he tries to keep things simple. Rohit added that confusion among players and their roles is the last thing he would want under his captaincy.

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