India vs New Zealand, First Semi-Final: Indian Captain Rohit Sharma
Mumbai:
India in the last few weeksWorld Cup 2023 India have defied all odds to continue their winning streak in the league stage, but captain Rohit Sharma wants to do his side’s favor in Wednesday’s semi-final against New Zealand. Rohit told reporters on the eve of the semi-final, ‘The time has come that fortune favors you and fortune favors the brave.’ Rohit said that just because of the semi-final match, the host team does not need to make any major changes in its mentality and attitude. India have been the most dominant team in the current World Cup, winning all nine of their league matches to top the points table. The team will now take on New Zealand in the first semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium.
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Ahead of India’s only training session ahead of the semi-finals, Rohit said, ‘I don’t think we need to do anything different from what we are doing.’ The skipper said that pressure has always been a part of their journey as Indian cricketers and it will be no different when they take to the field for the semi-finals.
Rohit said, ‘Whether it’s a league match or a semi-final, there is always pressure in a World Cup match. We handled it well from the first match to the last match. The team has responded well. He said, ‘Our focus is on playing good cricket in the next two matches. As Indian cricketers, there is always pressure on us. The focus needs to be on the match and not on the challenges and pressures of the other team.
Rohit has great respect for New Zealand, who he described as the ‘most disciplined’ team in the competition. The Indian captain said that he has the quality to read the opposition team well. He said, ‘New Zealand are probably the most disciplined team. He plays smart cricket, he understands the opposing team very well. His performances in semi-finals and finals of all ICC tournaments have shown great consistency.
Rohit said his team is under pressure to repeat the feats of Kapil Dev’s team of 1983 and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team of 2011, but the current players are focused on improving their performances. He said, ‘This is the beauty of the team. When we won the World Cup for the first time, half of the players in the team were not even born. When we won the World Cup last time, half the players didn’t even play cricket. Rohit said, ‘I don’t see him talking about how we won the first and last World Cup. The focus is only on getting better and what needs to be done to improve. The focus is always on the present.