Rohit Sharma- India pre-match press conference- 19 Feb '25
[Reporter:]
Every team enters a competition hoping to win it, but this one would be a special title considering that the tournament hasn't followed a set cycle, It's not like the World Cup, so it comes after a while. So, this would be a special title for you?
[Rohit Sharma:]
Look, it's happening after 2017, which is almost eight years now. But look, every title, every ICC trophy that you play, it is so important. And not just this Champions Trophy, but the previous World Cups that we played, they were all important for us. And it's no different here, ICC Champions Trophy, again, a very important tournament for all of us. And yeah, you come here thinking that you want to lift the trophy, but there are so many things that you have to do right before holding on to that trophy. I think as a team our focus will be on that, how we can do things right on the field and how we can move forward. So that will be our goal, that will be our thinking, how we can think about just one game at a time and keep moving forward from there. So yes, to answer your question, it's a very important tournament.
[Reporter:]
If we look at the combination of the other teams, of course India has to play all the matches in Dubai, the combination of five spinners that you selected, what was the thought behind it?
[Rohit Sharma:]
There are two spinners, the other three are all-rounders. I am not looking at them as a five spinners. Those three guys can bat and can bowl also. The other teams have fast bowlers and all-rounders. They say that they have six fast bowlers, which is good. But we work on our strength and try to run the team on that. Those three guys, Jadeja, Axar, Washi, give us a different dimension to the game, to our combination, to our squad. And they add a lot to this team and give us a lot of depth. That is why we wanted to try and get the players who can have two skills rather than one skill.
[Reporter:]
The other night we saw you batting to two local net bowlers and I think two of them at least hail from Pakistan. What was it like batting? Because from where we were seated, it looked like their pace was really fast.
[Rohit Sharma:]
Both of them were really good bowlers. I got a lot of feedback from our batters that they were really, really good. That's about it. And we had a little bit of time to chat with them as well. They live here. Other than that, I don't know much about them. This was the first time we saw them. And they were both really, really quality bowlers.
[Reporter:]
Having scored heavily in this stadium last series, you even hit a century against Pakistan. What is it that is needed to get an upper hand here when compared with other venues?
[Rohit Sharma:]
I think it's about assessing the pitch as quickly as possible and then you let your batsmanship, you let your experience, you let your mind take over. That's what I've done here. Whenever I've played here, we've played a lot of cricket here in the recent past. You know it does assist all types of bowlers. So, as a batter, you need to be just slightly mindful of that and try and assess as quickly as possible. And that is what I've done here. Whenever you play here, not just here, but anywhere you play, you try and assess as quickly as possible and then let your instinct, your batsmanship and the situation of the team take over and that is what I have tried to do here.
[Reporter:]
Definitely the pitch for Dubai is not that great for spinners. And we also don't have Bumrah in the squad. You rightly mentioned we have two spinners and three all-rounders. How is Team India well in a position to face the opposition team in Champions Trophy 2025?
[Rohit Sharma:]
No, we'll play this tournament as we've played any other tournaments, whether it is ICC tournaments or whether it is any other series that we play for India. Playing for India means a lot to all of us and then going out there and representing the country, not just me, but the other 14 guys in the squad will do the same thing. There will be times where you will miss certain players, but I think there is enough quality, enough depth, enough experience in the team for us to come here quite confident and be confident about what we want to do here. And then see how it goes. It's very easy for anyone or all of us to think far ahead and forget about what we need to do tomorrow. So, I think we'll just think about what we need to do tomorrow and then take it from there.
[Reporter:]
Not a lot of one-dayers for India last year. In that context, to have this series against England and not just the victory margin but the fact that so many good things came out of that, What does that tell you going into this tournament?
[Rohit Sharma:]
Yeah, playing that series, we knew there's not enough games that we have before this tournament. But I think whatever we spoke of, whatever as a team we wanted to do, the ethics of this team, the brand of this team that we wanted to play. I think we pretty much did that in all games. When you are playing a series before a tournament like that, you want to try and tick off certain boxes, and I thought we ticked off those boxes. We played very good cricket. We batted well. And we bowled pretty well, got a team like England. Got the team restricted for a below par score on three occasions. So twice we bowled first, once we batted, and we posted 350 runs, 350-odd runs there. So, all in all, I think it was a good series, but I said it before the series started, that we wanted to do things where we left off in the World Cup and carry on that kind of momentum into that England series and from there onwards to the Champions Trophy. But we do understand that every series we play is a different challenge. Every venue has its own challenge and Dubai obviously will be a different challenge. So quickly assessing what's required to do here tomorrow will be the key for us. If we can assess quickly and adjust our batting or bowling quickly that will help us moving forward.
[Reporter:]
My question is regarding the conditions. We had a very unusual scenario yesterday where we had overcast conditions and It kept raining here in Dubai. It's expected to be overcast on match day as well. How does that alter your plan in terms of what you thought when the team was selected and when you come here with the overcast conditions? And also, dew, we know, is a major factor here in Dubai. You've been here for a few days. What have you noticed with that?
[Rohit Sharma:]
See, I'm not too sure about the dew. Dew is a very unknown factor to all of us. And it is very, very unpredictable because, like for us in India, we are so aware of certain conditions and certain venues. That also surprised us a little bit when we played in Nagpur the previous day before the game. There was so much dew, but during the game there was no dew. So, you can't really think too much about that and prepare based on that.
In terms of the conditions, the overhead conditions, I think It's not a massive difference where you're playing in 28 - 30 degrees to a 10 degree or a 15 degree. It is going to be overcast - if it is, we have the arsenal to combat that if there are conditions which is helping the bowlers with the overhead conditions the bowlers are there to exploit that and the batters if we bat in those overhead conditions they exactly know what to do
[Reporter:]
Jos Butler said after that series that the big difference was, you know, India's top batsmen getting hundreds. He was referring to your hundreds during the course of conversation with Michael Atherton and Nasser on Sky Sports. How much of this conversation goes on in your team? And they also said that there is a T20 style of play reflected more in one day cricket now.
The question is, you know, were the top three or four batsmen getting hundreds for big totals?
[Rohit Sharma:]
Yeah, of course, I mean that's the key to us to have success in this format. You know, your top three, four, five batsmen needs to get that big score for you to post a big score eventually. So, I think our top four batters are quite experienced. And we know that once they are set, once they are in, they like to get those big runs. They do understand that, and everyone understands that between your top four, one has to get that big score. And in the World Cup, we've seen it as well, when we played that ODI World Cup, there were only a few hundreds that we scored, but we went on to score quite a few times, 350-plus scores, or 330 scores like that. I think it's about all seven, eight batters chipping in, whether you get big scores or not, but all seven or eight batters needs to contribute. And whatever the responsibility, whatever the understanding that we have of them, it's all about putting those contributions ahead. I have seen it in the recent past where even without scoring a hundred, the teams have managed to get par score or above par score in ODI format because everybody wants to chip in and everybody has chipped in. That will be our focus. We will not be looking at the individual milestone and stuff like that. We want to play whoever the two batters are in there; they have to do the job. And the guy goes in after that has a job to do as well. So, if seven, eight of us think like that, we will end up getting the score that we are looking for. It's just about everyone contributing to the cause.
[Reporter:]
Rohit, are you happy with the form of your deputy, Shubman Gill, considering he struggled a bit in Australia. And after that, he's come back with good runs in the series against England.
[Rohit Sharma:]
No, look, Gill is a very, very classy player. There was never a doubt about his ability in this squad. The formats, I think we tend to mix formats. And I don't think that's the right way to judge any player. Certain players have their strength in certain formats. And if the one format doesn't go well, doesn't mean that the other format will be the same. And it's there for all of us to see what happened in Australia. Things have changed, certainly in a different format. So, with Gil, we know the numbers are crazy of Gil. If you look at it, he's been superb for us in the last three, four years that he's batted. And obviously, there is a reason that he's been elevated to be the vice - captain of the team as well. Hopefully, he has a great tournament, and it eventually will help us achieve the things that we are looking to achieve.
[Reporter:]
You'll be playing all your games here in Dubai. The surface here produces results that are helpful for the chasers. Toss plays a vital factor, actually. In that context, The T20 World Cup, IPL, even ILT20 recently, the chasing team was winning. So, the luck plays a very big factor and you will be playing all the games here. So, what is your perspective on that?
[Rohit Sharma:]
No, look, I don't, I never go with a set plan of thinking about this, in this venue, this has worked for certain teams, so we should try and do that. Whatever works for us, we will try and do that, whether it is batting second or batting first. I have still not seen the pitch. We need to still see the pitch and talk to the groundsmen about the conditions of the ground and stuff like that. Whatever the recent games have been played here were all T20 format. I don't know if it's the right thing to look at that and do our judgment. I think it's important that whatever we feel is comfortable doing against certain opposition. Because all oppositions are different. Some oppositions like to bat first and put runs on the board. So, we would think about it, whether we want to make them bat first or not. So, it works like that with me, at least, if I have to be really honest. I think like that, where there are certain things, yes, that we want to do as a team. But you have to look at the opposition, that what they are comfortable doing as well. So, there will be a lot of chat around that with me and GG and the other boys as well. And we'll do whatever is necessary for the team, whatever is right we feel, we'll try and do that.
[Reporter:]
You had a chance to look at Kuldeep and Shami returning from injury in the England series. Are they back to their best in terms of bowling fitness?
[Rohit Sharma:]
Bowling fitness, they're fine. Look, again, Shami's played only two games, two international games and then obviously a couple of T20s as well. All we wanted with Shami was to get back wearing that India colours more than anything else. Whether he gets wickets or not that was completely immaterial for us at that point. We wanted him to get back to playing for India. And he's done that. And whatever I've seen of him so far looks perfectly fine, absolutely fine. When you talk about a bowler like Shami who's done the job over the years so many times for us - for them, it's just about getting back to their rhythm and hopefully he can find some rhythm early on in this tournament and help the team. Kuldeep again very similar was injured had a hernia operation just after that New Zealand series and was out of action for two and a half months. And for him also it was important to get back playing and get back into that rhythm. The two games that, again, he played, the numbers will not show. And with certain players, you don't have to look at numbers so much and in detail. For certain players, it's just about getting back to playing. The numbers will come. And that is what, as a captain, as a coach, our faith is in with certain players. And whatever prep he's had coming here, he looks good. Looks quite confident in what he wants to do. And if these two guys are in form, the team looks very, very different.
[Reporter:]
You always say that when you're playing for India, every match is important - But the format of the tournament, with 4 groups, every match becomes huge. Because if you play well, you move forward. And if you play badly, you slip. In this regard - the format of the tournament what is the importance of the first match?
[Rohit Sharma:]
The format of the ICC is very important. Whether it is T20 World Cup, ODI World Cup or Champions Trophy, you don't have enough chances to come back. Although, the 50-over World Cup is a little different because you get 10 matches to play. So, even if you slip a few matches, there is always a chance to come back. But in T20 and in this, we have seen that there are two or three league games. If you lose one match, the pressure on you increases. Every game becomes very, very important. We all know this. But don't think too much about it and drive yourself crazy. I just feel that let the game start and let's see where it goes.
[Reporter:]
Varun Chakravarthy has been discussed all over the world. How do you face him during the nets? Do you still think that he's a mystery bowler?
[Rohit Sharma:]
He throws the ball in the same way. Maybe he doesn't want to show us what he has. But that is a good thing. If he's got a certain weapon that he wants to just put it out there when it actually matters, I'm more than happy if he wants to do that
But he's got something different which is why he is here with us – whatever I have seen of him in the past 8-9 months, has been extremely impressive. So that is why we wanted to bring him here and see what he has. What can he do for Team India at this stage? So, let's see now what happens. It's a game. It's just about now executing that on the field.
[Reporter:]
The other night we saw you batting to two local net bowlers and I think two of them at least hail from Pakistan. What was it like batting? Because from where we were seated, it looked like their pace was really fast.
[Rohit Sharma:]
Both of them were really good bowlers. I got a lot of feedback from our batters that they were really, really good. That's about it. And we had a little bit of time to chat with them as well. They live here. Other than that, I don't know much about them. This was the first time we saw them. And they were both really, really quality bowlers.
India won by 7 wickets (with 51 balls remaining)
Bangladesh won by 6 runs
