Rohit Sharma
Credit: Reuters Photo
Ahmedabad: Rohit Sharma was the most crucial cog in India's wheels as it motored to the semifinal in the last World Cup before New Zealand ended their campaign at that stage. The right-hander slammed a record-breaking five hundreds in a single edition, overtaking Kumar Sangakkara's four during the 2015 edition and his graph as a white-ball batter kept only growing that has culminated in him leading India in the ongoing World Cup at home.
While a lot has changed in terms of team composition, leadership and support staff, Rohit felt not much has altered personally.
"I know what are the things that I need to do to find success on the field in terms of me as a player and then me as a captain," said Rohit on the eve of India's match against Pakistan here. "But speaking of just the player first, the batter, I think there are certain boxes for me that I have to tick before every game just to get you that confidence. For me, preparation is very important. And I've spoken at the start of the World Cup that I need to prepare well to get into the tournament. And I thought I've done everything that I can from my side to prepare well for each game. Because we know every day is a new day, fresh day. And you start your fresh day as a new challenge.
"What you've done in the past, what you've done yesterday, doesn't really matter too much. You can take a bit of confidence from that, but like we know in sport, every day is a fresh day. You play different opposition and they bring you new challenges. And you just got to be ready to face that challenge. So, I think for me as a batter, that is something that I've really focused on, getting myself ready in however way I can, and whatever it takes for me to get ready for any game."
Speaking about the crowd factor against Pakistan on Saturday, when over 100,000 fans are expected to pack the stadium, Rohit played down the pressure of expectations.
"I don't think there is any disadvantage. You feel nice about playing in front of your home crowd. They get behind you no matter what the situation of the game is. My overall experience playing, not just in India, even outside India, we get massive support. So, I look at this as a good advantage, big advantage. But we know that eventually it boils down to playing good cricket. And whatever it takes to win the game, you've got to do that. So yes, you can use the support, but eventually, you've got to play good cricket to win the game."