New skipper Rohit Sharma hints at following Virat Kohli’s ODI template
Rohit Sharma is all set to resume his duties as India’s full-time ODI skipper starting Sunday, when they will be locking horns with the West Indies in the first game at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. Rohit, who was first made India’s T20I skipper was later appointed as the ODI captain as Virat Kohli was sacked from the post by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) ahead of the team’s departure for South Africa series.
Ahead of the ODI series opener against the West Indies, Rohit made it clear that as the leader of the 50-overs format, he will whole-heartedly be taking Kohli‘s ODI template forward and that is to play the same brand of cricket in this format without making any changes. The batting megastar will be a part of the home team in the upcoming white-ball series and all eyes will be on his performances as the former skipper looks forward to scoring his 71st international century.
We don’t want to complicate things: Rohit Sharma
“There’s not much we need to change. On certain occasions, there will be situations where we will need to change our game. Being open to doing different things at different times is a requirement and it is a talk we have had. It’s not like I need to come in and change things drastically. I will be giving the players the clarity of what is expected out of them,” said Rohit Sharma during the press conference ahead of the first ODI.
At the same time, the dynamic opener also mentioned that since India’s win percentage in the 50-overs format is over 70, they need not make too many changes and since the two-time world champions have played remarkable cricket, they do not want to complicate things. More importantly, he has also made it clear that since he has come in, he is not going to copy how other teams are faring in this form of the game.
“Our ODI win percentage has been over 70% if I am not wrong. We have tried to speak to individuals about things that need to be done. It’s not like you need to come in and copy other teams. We have a different setup, we play a certain way. I am open to changes in approach and have spoken to the guys about it. But, we can’t change too many things”, he said.
“We don’t want to complicate things. We have played remarkable cricket. There are certain moments we need to capitalise on. The guys coming in haven’t played a lot of ODI cricket. The experience is going to be very crucial. Over the next few months, we’ll try to do things a little differently,” the Mumbai cricketer added.
