IND vs WI 2022: [Watch] India captain Rohit Sharma gears up for 1st ODI
Team India captain Rohit Sharma fine-tuned his batting skills ahead of the first T20I against West Indies on Friday (July 29) at Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad.
After a grueling tour of England, Rohit was rested for the three-match ODI series against Nicholas Pooran and Co, which India won 3-0. He joined the squad a few days back and had a couple of sessions with the bat, leading to the T20 leg of the tour.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently shared a short clip where Rohit was sweating it out in the nets. The Indian skipper didn't have an overwhelming series against England.
He will look to fire with the bat as the Men in Blue continue their preparation for the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia later this year. Sharing the video on their social media handles, BCCI wrote:
"Sound 🔛 🔊 #TeamIndia captain @rohitsharma45 warming up in the nets ahead of the 1st #WIvIND T20I. 👌👌."
Sound 🔛 🔊
#TeamIndia captain @ImRo45 warming up in the nets ahead of the 1st #WIvIND T20I. 👌 👌 https://t.co/0V5A70l2EY
The Mumbai-born cricketer managed only one half-century in six limited-overs games against Jos Buttler and Co. His highest score of an unbeaten 76 came in the first ODI at The Oval. He will look to hit the strides as the marquee competition inches closer.
Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya, who were rested from the ODIs, also joined the squad. Dinesh Karthik, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravi Bishnoi, who were not part of the ODIs, are also part of the T20I series.
"I do not agree that we were playing conservative cricket" - Rohit Sharma
India have received a fair share of criticism for not playing an aggressive brand of cricket, with many attributing that as the main reason behind their failure at World Cups.
🏻
🏻
We are back!
Hustle continues 💪🏻
T20I prep begins 👍🏻
#TeamIndia | #WIvIND https://t.co/snuX3tEvfa
Rohit, however, denied all those claims, citing that they won 80 percent of the games that they played leading to the T20 World Cup last year. Addressing reporters on the eve of the first ODI, the Indian captain said:
"We haven't gotten the result in the World Cup, that doesn't mean we were playing bad cricket. And I do not agree that we were playing conservative cricket, if you lose 1-2 matches in the World Cup, it seems like we did not take the chances."
He added:
"If you look at the games we have played before the World Cup, we won 80 per cent of those. I do not understand how can you win these many matches if you are conservative."
India will hope to keep the momentum going in the next few matches as they are desperate to end their barren run in multi-nation tournaments.