"The people outside the scene should keep calm and maintain silence" - Rohit Sharma defends Team India's blueprint ahead of 2022 T20 World Cup
Team India captain Rohit Sharma has called for patience following the team's revamped approach ahead of the 2022 T20 World Cup. The Men in Blue have employed a more proactive and aggressive approach under the new skipper.
Recording only three defeats since their group stage exit in the 2021 T20 World Cup, India are one of the most in-form sides at the moment when it comes to the shortest format of the game.
The inaugural T20 World Cup champions have tested out their bench strength and have embraced a positive brand of cricket, which has become the norm.
#Rohitsharma explains to me his T20 blueprint . Always refreshing to listen to captain. #CricketTwitter
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Admitting that there will be sporadic failures at times with the high-risk approach, Rohit Sharma told journalist Vimal Kumar:
"That is why I repeat, the people outside the scene should keep calm and maintain silence. The brand of cricket which we are currently playing, there will be failures at times, the results may not go in favor, but that is completely fine, no problem with it, because we are trying to learn something with it."
He added:
"We are trying to do something different, so there may be instances where we make mistakes, but it does not mean that the players or the team are bad."
India recorded an average powerplay score of 35.5 with the loss of 2.2 average wickets in the previous edition of the World Cup. Poor returns in the powerplay were a major cause of concern in their defeats to Pakistan and New Zealand, which eventually led to their elimination.
Brisk starts and a spark in the rate of scoring in the middle overs were the points of focus when Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid took charge of the team. The revamped approach has borne them tangible results, marking a solid buildup to the multi-nation tournament in Australia.
Strongly refuting the claims that India employed a conservative approach in the recent past, Rohit Sharma said:
"We have not won any World Cups, but that does not mean we have been performing poorly in the last few years. I do not agree that we were playing conservative cricket. You lose a couple of matches in the World Cup and suddenly there is talk of the team trying something else.
"If you look at the overall games that we have played, leading into the WC, we have won around 80 percent of our games."
The Men in Blue are scheduled to play a few more T20Is following their tour of the Caribbean in the form of the Asia Cup and home series against Australia and South Africa.
"We still have to fill some spots in the team before the T20 World Cup" - Rohit Sharma
Team India tested out their bench strength on multiple occasions, especially during the home series against South Africa and the subsequent tour of Ireland. The second-string squad responded rather well and have given the management a happy headache in terms of selecting the squad for the all-important tournament.
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Claiming that the team is well-aware of how to fill the remaining spots, Rohit Sharma explained:
"You need to change with time, we are trying to change as well, so the people outside also need to change their thinking. We still have to fill some spots in the team before the T20 World Cup, we also know what needs to be done to fill those spots. So, we are trying, with all these matches that are being played to address those things."
Rohit Sharma will lead the Indian side in the first T20I against West Indies tomorrow (July 29) at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.
Will India march onto the World Cup with yet another series win under their belt? Let us know what you think.