Champions Trophy: Rohit Sharma confirms he’s not going anywhere, proud of India being a ‘bloody good team’
At the end of a 20-minute press conference where Rohit Sharma addressed the questions with the trophy by his side, he paused and made a final statement: “One more thing… I’m not going to retire from the format, just to make sure that no rumours are spread moving forward. Thank you so much.” India defeated New Zealand in a nervy Champions Trophy final, and Rohit’s side made it back-to-back ICC titles.
The Champions Trophy came on the back of an international season that saw India lose the Test series to New Zealand at home and then in Australia, where Rohit dropped himself for the last Test. Speculations have been rife about his future since then. But through the course of this unbeaten Champions Trophy campaign, Rohit has gone about showing he still has enough gas in the tank. And in the final, he finished with a match-winning knock of 76 that wonderfully set up the chase for India.
His future in the ODIs aside, as Rohit sat down for the press conference, he appeared every bit a proud captain. He attributed it to the collective effort of the side, where everyone has put their hand up and has ticked their roles to perfection. “If you want to win a tournament championship, it is very important for everyone to contribute. There are some matches where individuals win, but to win a tournament, everyone needs to perform together. In this tournament, we have seen that from the first match till now, all the boys have contributed. If you see from number 1 to 11, the boys who have got the chance to bat or bowl, they have contributed in their own way.”
Coming into the tournament, India took the big decision to demote KL Rahul from No 5 to 6 and the wicketkeeper responded by staying unbeaten in three of the tricky chases to guide them home including the final against New Zealand on Sunday. “When we discussed about KL’s batting position, we discussed quite deeply how calm he is when he is batting. The pressure doesn’t get to him. We wanted that calmness in the middle somewhere. Also, we wanted to use a left-hander in the middle. That actually worked out both ways for us. KL has been doing a lot of challenging work for the team for so many years now. I am very happy with how he managed to pull this tournament and bat it in the pressure situation, both in the semifinals and this game as well. The contribution may not be 70-80, but those 30-40s are very important,” Rohit added.
On Sunday when Rahul walked in, India were once again in a spot of bother. But like he did against Australia, he took the calculative risks by attacking the spinners, which he again did here to keep the required run rate in check. “When you are chasing, running the ball at the back end, it can get tough, it can get difficult. But with KL being there, we know that he has got that mind where he keeps himself calm and keeps the dressing room also very calm. So, I am very happy with how he managed in this tournament and really happy for the contributions that he made for the team,” Rohit said.
Since their defeat to England in the semifinals of the T20 World Cup in 2022, India have gone about with a different approach in white-ball cricket. With Rohit leading the way at the top with his aggressive intent, India’s high-risk approach has paid off in each of the last three ICC tournaments where they have made it to as many finals. “Someone was telling me in these ICC tournaments, we have lost only one game in the last three ICC tournaments that we have played. So, it is a great milestone to have, honestly speaking. And that speaks about the kind of team this is. So, I know we did not win the World Cup. We lost that final. But then we went to World 20 and not lost a single game and went on to win the trophy and here as well. So, it shows a lot of quality in the team, a lot of depth, a lot of understanding within the group, a lot of enjoyment, a lot of excitement. And that is how we want to play our cricket. And that is what we had spoken before the tournament began. We wanted to enjoy,” he added.
Another statement stood during the press conference too, as he spoke about the recent successes of his team: “India is a bloody good team.”
