"Captaincy Not Based On Personal Likes And Dislikes": Rohit Sharma On World Cup Squad Selection

Rohit Sharma understands the gargantuan pressure that a home World Cup brings but the Indian captain wants to insulate himself from the outside chatter as he embarks on an arduous journey to win the country's first ICC trophy in a decade. Shouldering more than a billion hopes, the 36-year-old India skipper knows what's at stake in the ODI World Cup, which starts October 5 with England taking on New Zealand in Ahmedabad.

"For me, it is important how I keep myself relaxed and not worry about external factors that play a role, whether positively or not negatively. I want to shut out everything," Rohit told PTI in an exclusive interview just before joining the Asia Cup camp in Benglauru.

"I want to get into the phase I was in before the 2019 World Cup,” said Rohit, who carries an aura of Zen even in the most tense of situations.

The same calm was visible as he put across his point of view in an uncomplicated manner during the interview, just like the straight face of his bat when he hits the bowler's back-drive.

"I was in great frame of mind and prepared really well for the tournament," he said referring to the last edition, where he scored 648 runs with an unprecedented five hundreds to emerge as the highest run-getter.

"I was in good shape, good mindset. I want to bring that back and I have time to do that. Trying to recollect what were the right things that I was doing before the 2019 World Cup as a cricketer and as a person. I want to revisit that thought-process of mine personally," the skipper said.

World Cups and the vagaries associated with the results can change a lot of things but for Rohit, one month of cricket can't make or break the player that he is.

"A person can't change overnight with his success or