'They have got nothing to lose' - Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma has urged his teammates to step up in the second ODI against Bangladesh. India lost the first ODI by 79 runs and Rohit was the team’s top scorer with 63 runs.
"They have got nothing to lose. India have everything to lose," Rohit said. "We have to extra careful in what we do. We understand that coming to their territory we expected them to play this way. But that is no excuse. As professionals we should be aware of the opposition's strengths and weaknesses. I am sure we will be more prepared in the next game."
Rohit also stressed upon the importance of getting early breakthroughs especially after the Bangladeshi openers put up a 100-run opening partnership. "The wicket looks quite similar to the first game. Generally it tends to play very similarly throughout, and tactically we need to understand where we lack in the first game. It's always important to take wickets up front. That is something we will be focusing on: to get early wickets. It always builds pressure when you take early wickets. That was missing in the first game.
"They (Bangladesh) got the momentum early. They got a hundred run opening partnership and from there they played fearless cricket. They kept going after our bowlers. But our aim should be very simple. Try and take early wickets, if we bat first or bat second doesn't matter.
"We have to take wickets at regular intervals which holds the run-rate and the momentum back a little bit. We need to try and do that. And we've got quality bowlers, quality spinners who can do that. So, hopefully tomorrow is the perfect game for them to come out and deliver again."
"We have to mix and match. You can't just keep bowling the same length again and again. We have to be aggressive; aggressive means we do not mind bowling bouncers at them whenever it's required. We need to understand their batters' weaknesses. We have played quite a bit against them, the bowlers have a clear picture in their mind as to what their weaknesses are. We just need to exploit that."
Rohit also acknowledged that the wicket will get slower as the game progresses. "As the ball gets older and as the game progresses, the wicket is going to play slower and slower and I think that's where they made the most out of it. Initially with the new ball Mustafizur was not getting that grip. So I think we need to understand that once the wicket gets slower, how we need to play and what shots we need to play. And also we need to be aggressive."
He reiterated that the team was looking to play an aggressive brand of cricket in the limited overs format. "As a batting group, it's our responsibility to bat as long as possible and get the team into a good position," he said. "At the same time, we have spoken about playing aggressive cricket. While doing that you will have to play a few shots and you may get out, that's the nature of the game right now.
If you look at the way cricket is being played today, its gone to the next level surely. So I feel it's always important for the guy who is batting in the middle, to take the responsibility of batting for a long period of time. Every batsman who goes in wants to do that but there are times when the batsman is trying to take the game away from the opposition, while doing so there are chances of losing a wicket."