The Indian Test skipper Rohit Sharma was left perplexed by a question that was asked by a journalist during the press conference on Tuesday, prior to the team’s first Test against Bangladesh which is set to take place in Chennai on September 19.
The Indian captain who was interacting with the media was asked a fairly odd question on whether the pressure would be off the team now that they have put the longstanding ICC trophy curse behind them.
Left perplexed, Rohit Sharma asked, ” So what are you saying, winning this Test match is not important?”
After clarifying with the reporter, the skipper responded,” No sir look. I know there was a lot of chatter regarding ICC tournaments and all that. But see every series if we don’t win the bilateral series”.
Rohit believes that even if the team does not win a bilateral series, the pressure will be upon them and sees the amount of chatter that would be on the Indian team as something different in comparison to the other countries.
“Again we know how it works. The talks will start happening around how we lost the bilateral series. We shouldn’t have lost and all of that. See with India it’s a different ball game compared to the others,” he commented.
“It’s not how it works possibly for the other countries. I don’t know I’m not too sure. I’m an Indian cricketer I can only talk about India,” he added.
The 37-year-old insisted that each and every game where they represent the country, they would want to go for the win and as captain, he does not plan on putting the foot off the pedal any time soon.
“Every series that we play, every tournament that we play becomes so important. Not just for you all but for us also. We want to win. There’s no way in my mind that we won one trophy so we can just sit back, relax and enjoy. It doesn’t work like that,” he shared.
No ‘Dress Rehersal’ for Team India
With the talks regarding India’s upcoming tour of Australia beginning already, the Indian captain has already clarified that they would not be looking too far ahead.
“Every Test match is a big one. Let me start with that. At the end of the day, you’re playing for your country. Right? There’s no dress rehearsal kind of stuff that is happening here,” said the captain of the Indian Test team.
Rohit remains focused on the World Test Championship and believes the points table to be still open despite Team India at the top of the table. Keeping that in mind, the Indian captain intends to go strong and hopes to win their coming games.
“Every game that you play is important and every game becomes important because of what is at stake. In the World Test Championship, the table is quite wide open and you want to win every game. Doesn’t matter where we play in 2 months, we want to win here, win this Test match. So I think we have to focus on winning this series and the Test matches. So rather than looking too far ahead, I think it’s important we start after a long time,” Rohit emphasised.
The captain is pleased to have the band back together after their break from Test cricket where they had to focus on the limited overs scene. With several key players like Virat Kohli back in the side, Rohit hopes to continue their dominance at home as they take on their next-door neighbours.
“One month is a long time. It’s nice to have everyone back and then start the season on a high. That’s what we have been talking about and, when the Test match starts, you’ve got to see where you stand and take it from there,” he added.
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