Rohit Sharma, the captain of India, stated that playing against diverse oppositions in multi-nation competitions comes with its own pressure, and that it is different from playing bilateral cricket. This statement was made in reference to the Asia Cup 2022 match between India and Sri Lanka.
The current Asia Cup is being played in Dubai, and India’s hopes of making it to the championship match were dealt a severe blow when Rohit Sharma’s team lost to Sri Lanka in the Super 4 stage at the Dubai International Stadium by a score of six wickets. This result eliminated India from contention for the title.
As a direct consequence of this loss, India’s qualification for the championship match will now be determined not just by Afghanistan but also by Sri Lanka. In order to qualify for the final on the basis of a greater net run rate, both Sri Lanka and Afghanistan will need to win their matches against Pakistan, and India will need to win their match against Afghanistan by a substantial margin.
Following India’s defeat over Sri Lanka, Rohit had a press conference in which he addressed questions on whether or not the team should be concerned and whether or not India has been falling behind in recent multi-nation tournaments.
“I do not believe that we are falling behind in any area (in multi-nation tournaments). The quality of the players on the team is there; nevertheless, I believe that the level of pressure will increase as the competition expands to include several nations.
In bilaterals, you face off against a single opponent in 3-5 matches; throughout these matches, you have the opportunity to get insight into the mentality of the competition. The difficulty, though, lies in the fact that you are competing against a variety of teams at competitions such as the World Cup and the Asia Cup “added Rohit.
“In our locker room, we have had this discussion, and we have discussed ways in which we can keep one step ahead of the competition. We were not able to go to the semifinals of the Twenty20 World Cup last year, and here in the Asia Cup, we have already been defeated twice. However, this presents a problem for us, and every member of our staff is aware of the difficulty of the situation.
However, if you look at our history in ICC competitions, you will notice that we have competed in the final, as well as the semi-finals, and that we have also triumphed in the final on multiple occasions in the past. I do not believe that it is necessary for us to give it a great deal of thought. The goal of our work is to educate athletes on how to think more clearly and rationally when faced with challenging circumstances “he continued.
When asked if there is any reason for the team to start becoming concerned, Rohit responded: “There is no cause for alarm. It is not necessary to start fretting just because you have lost two matches in a row. Such conversations are not allowed in our locker room at any time.
We have played a lot of matches after the World Cup, and we have won a lot of them. Just because we have lost these two matches in the Asia Cup does not give me reason to be concerned because we have won so many other matches. It is natural for experienced batters to get out, and it is normal for experienced bowlers to give up runs to experienced hitters; this all keeps happening.”
“I do not believe that we ought to start becoming worried about this. Because Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been in the game for such a long period of time, he has won a significant number of matches for us in the last overs. A losing streak of one or two games should not cause us to start condemning him “he continued.
Regarding the game that took place against Sri Lanka, India scored 173 runs in 20 overs, with their captain, Rohit, contributing 72 of those runs. In spite of this, India were unable to defend the objective, and Sri Lanka were able to achieve their goal with six wickets in hand and one ball to spare.
