A big match is coming up and with that, memories of the past. Ahead of the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand at Wankhede Stadium, Rohit Sharma said his team is not weighed by what happened against the same team four years ago. He is backing his players and giving them freedom to do the job. The following are excerpts from Rohit’s pre-match press conference.
Q: When a big match like this happens, everyone is well prepared. So, in the end, does it all come down to absorbing the pressure and playing openly?
A: Yes, from the first game to the last game. Be it a league match, semi-final or final, whenever you play a World Cup game, there is always pressure. This is obvious because the World Cup is a World Cup. That’s why there is pressure. But we have handled that pressure very well in the last nine games. We were only focused on our game. We wanted to play good cricket. That’s what we did.
In the future also, we will focus on playing good cricket. If you are an India cricketer, then whatever the format, whatever the tournament, there is always pressure. Because you hear the same voice from everywhere that we have to win the match tomorrow. We have to score 100 runs. We have to take 5 wickets. So, all these guys, whether they have played 200-250 matches or 5-10 matches, they have to go through all this. So, in terms of pressure, it becomes mandatory for Indian cricketers. But we have tried to keep that aside and focus more on our game, strategy, and the way we play.
Q: As media, we talk about history, what happened in the last match. Do you guys think about history when you get into the field or while preparing? Do you think of what happened in the last World Cup, what happened in the World Test Championship final, or do you just set aside and focus on this match? How does your preparation go?
A: Honestly, I mean look, that’s the beauty of this team. Half of the guys were not even born when we won our first World Cup. And then when we won our second World Cup in 2011, half of the guys were not playing the game.
For us, this current crop of players, they’re very much into what is happening today, what can happen tomorrow. Those are the things they try and focus on. I don’t see them talking about how we won the last World Cup, how we won our first World Cup. The focus is on how they can get better as players, what they can bring to the team and what they can do to improve.
That’s the beauty of the crop of players we have at this point in time. The focus is always on the present. And that, I believe, is a very, very good thing. Going into a tournament like this, the focus has always been on what we can achieve today. What you achieve today sets you up for what you can achieve tomorrow. So, I think the crop of players we have is very much focused on that process.
Q: How about you or Virat, the experienced crop, people who played four years ago? What about you guys?
A: Obviously it’s in the back of your mind. You know what happened in the past. But what has happened in the past is the past. What you can do today, what you can do tomorrow is what we usually talk about. I don’t think there’s much debate or talk about what happened 10 years ago or five years ago or at the last World Cup.
New Zealand is probably the most disciplined team in terms of how they want to play the game. And they play their cricket very smartly. They understand the opposition quite well. And they’ve been very consistent for so many years, playing semi-finals and finals of probably all ICC tournaments. We understand what they bring to the table and how they play their cricket. We have been closely following all the teams as to where their strength lies, where their weakness lies. And based on that, we try and go out there and play the game.
Now, the time has come when you need a little bit of luck as well. Obviously, we’re going to be brave enough. And hopefully, fortune favours the brave.
Q: Firstly, what is the principle that you swear by as a leader in your dressing room? Second, if you look back at the campaign so far, what’s the one moment possibly on the sidelines, something off the field that probably brings the widest smile on your face?
A: I don’t have a mantra as such. I just believe that as a captain, if you have decided that this is how you want to play as a team, then there needs to be clarity amongst the team. And then if a certain player wants to go out there and play in the way that you want him to play, then you’ve got to back that player to the hilt. And that is what we’ve done. We’ve backed certain players because we’ve given them a different role. If they perform in that role, well and good. If they don’t, we have got to back that player and tell him that we stand by you. That is something that I believe in and I want to do it as much as I can from my side. I also got to give credit to Rahul (Dravid) as well.
This is something that we have stuck by right from the beginning. And we will continue to do that in the future. And giving freedom to each player to go out there and perform their role. That is another important aspect of the game and how you want to play as a team. So, these are the two things, role clarity and giving the guys that freedom and going there and expressing themselves.
One moment I would say probably was the last game where all four of us bowled. The crowd enjoyed pretty much. And I’m pretty sure the fans across the world who watched us bowl would have loved that as well.