"The team pretty much knows what is expected out of them" - Rohit Sharma on taking over from Virat Kohli
India's white-ball captain Rohit Sharma has highlighted the smooth transition from former skipper Virat Kohli as the Men in Blue gear up for the three-match ODI series against West Indies at home.
This will be Rohit's first assignment as the full-time ODI captain. While plenty of challenges await the new captain, a smooth transition of leadership will be a top priority. However, the talismanic opener believes it won't be much of a problem, considering as the team is following the same template.
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Addressing the press ahead of the 1st ODI, Rohit Sharma said:
"When Virat was captaining, I was the vice-captain so we pretty much went about the team in a similar fashion and I just have to take it from where he left. The team pretty much knows what is expected out of them talking about the individuals."
The 34-year-old continued:
"We want to continue the same template. There is not much we need to change. We are a good team, we are good players and it's just that on certain occasions there will be situations presented in front of us where we have to change our game a little bit."
Sharma added:
"There is nothing that I need to come in and change drastically. It's just that I have to take it forward from where he left. It is important that guys do understand the responsibility is what I will be focusing on and give them the clarity of what is expected out of them."
Rohit Sharma was appointed as captain ahead of the South Africa series. However, he missed the white-ball leg due to an injury. Vice-captain KL Rahul led the side as India went down 3-0 in the 50-overs format.
"It is certainly on the back of my mind" - Rohit Sharma on playing Kuldeep and Chahal together
While the middle-order conundrum in batting looks more real than ever, India have not addressed their failure to pick up wickets in the middle-overs, which was evident against the Proteas.
With Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin out, India will certainly want to bring in the combination of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, who ran riot before the 2019 World Cup. The duo bowled together up until the mega event in England.
Hailing both spinners, Rohit Sharma admitted that he has plans of playing them together at some stage in the series.
"Kuldeep and Chahal have been great performers for us in the past and they have created an impact in those years whenever they have played together. In the middle, they were left out because of the combination we wanted to get. It is certainly on my mind to get them back together, Kuldeep especially."
Sharma added:
"We want to get Kuldeep in slowly, we do not want him to be rushed. It is important to give him some time to come into his own groove, we do not want to put him in a situation where we are asking too much from him also. Kuldeep needs to play a lot of games to get his rhythm back and we understand that."
The first ODI of the three-match series is scheduled to take place on February 6 (Sunday) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.