India’s 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup-winning Captain Rohit Sharma sat down with Jatin Sapru and speak about his mantra for the defending champions, importance of blocking the noise and memories from the team’s dream run during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup India 2023.
Rohit Sharma laid the ground rules for Team India ahead of their title defence:
“I want the team to be seen as a very classy team. When you play on the ground, people should know that it’s the Indian team. So, behave, and carry yourself well on the ground. These were the things I was always very particular about and I always spoke about them before talking about field placements or what to do in batting, bowling, etc. I felt you have to carry yourself well because you’re playing a World Cup, you’re playing in India, everyone’s watching you and we need to be ambassadors for the country. So, be the best version of yourself on the ground because you’re playing for a country that has such a rich legacy in this game. Performances, winning, losing, all of that will happen later. But most importantly, I think we need to carry ourselves well on the ground and then block the outside noise, create your own bubble. Nothing should come inside, no voices, nothing.”
On the pressure of playing in a home World Cup in India:
“When we were playing the World Cup in 2023, my biggest fear was that if we lost a match and went to the airport, people would rip us apart. We spoke about all of this, that we’d try putting on headphones or whatever, but we had to keep the outside noise out. At one point, I even thought we should ask the boys to switch off from social media for the next two months. But it’s a very individualistic thing. I didn’t want to behave like a professor or a headmaster. Eventually, we didn’t do it. But if you stay in your zone, I think it helps. Luckily for us in 2023, we didn’t lose a single game except the final. So yes, I was very scared of that. But anyway, we played well and similarly with this group, if they keep winning, there will not be any pressure.”
On the team bonding and camaraderie during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup India 2023:
“It is ideal to get off social media. I still stay away. I get news from outside that this happened or that happened and I love it. I did it during the 2023 World Cup as well. Before asking anyone else, I had to do it myself. But I didn’t go and discuss this with anyone. Rahul bhai (Rahul Dravid) and I were discussing whether we should speak to the team about it. Rahul bhai said, ‘I don’t know if it’s the right thing. It’s very personal. You take the call.’ So, I let it go. But a lot of the boys also suggested, ‘Let’s do it.’ I won’t take names, but two or three guys came and told me this. That’s why, if you see, the 2023 World Cup was one of our best campaigns, not just because of what we did on the field, but also off it. We stayed together for those 45 days. We spent a lot of time together, doing various activities, pulling each other’s leg and giving fielding medals. The fielding medal was introduced during that World Cup. We did all these interesting things, it was a lot of fun and that reflected on the ground.”
On his message to Team India ahead of their title defence:
“I wish them the best. I really do, because I think with the team we have, it’s very much possible to do what no team has ever done, winning the T20 World Cup at home and also three ICC trophies on the trot.”
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