Rohit Sharma BCCI interview: Rohit Sharma brushes aside rift with Virat Kohli: After being named team India ODI skipper, Rohit Sharma has talked in length for the first time in an interview. Speaking on various topics, Rohit Sharma brushed aside the rift with former white-ball skipper Virat Kohli and said it’s always going to be high-pressure when you are playing for India and foremost important thing is to focus on the job irrespective of being a captain. Follow InsideSport.in for more updates.
India Tour of South Africa: Rohit Sharma brushes aside rift with Virat Kohli, says ‘It is important to focus on my job’ – Watch video
BCCI on Sunday released a short video on its official Twitter handle with the caption: “The pressure will always be there. As a cricketer, it is important to focus on my job.” SPECIAL – @ImRo45’s first interview after being named #TeamIndia’s white-ball captain.”
🗣️🗣️ "The pressure will always be there. As a cricketer, it is important to focus on my job."
SPECIAL – @ImRo45's first interview after being named #TeamIndia’s white-ball captain coming up on https://t.co/Z3MPyesSeZ. 📽️
Stay tuned for this feature ⌛ pic.twitter.com/CPB0ITOBrv
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 12, 2021
In the video, Rohit Sharma talks about various topics such as the pressure while playing for India, his take on being named ODI skipper, and a few other things including the rift with Virat Kohli.
Rohit Sharma on the rift with Virat Kohli: Speaking further in the video, though Rohit Sharma didn’t directly talk about the speculations on his rift with former white-ball skipper Virat Kohli, he said that the outside talks are immaterial. He further says that what he thinks about an individual is more important than the talks happening outside. ” I think those talks that happens outside are immaterial. For us, it’s important that what we think of each other. You know that is more important. What I think of XYZ…that is important. You want to create a strong bond between the players and that is what will help us in achieving the goal we want.”
“He’s (Kohli) put the team in the situation where there is no looking back. Those five years that he has led the team led from the front every time we stepped onto the park. And yeah! there was a clear grit and determination to win every game that was the message to the entire squad,” Rohit said in an interview posted on the BCCI website.
“We had a great time playing under him obviously we played I played a lot of cricket under him and enjoyed every moment and I will still continue to do that,” he added.
Rohit Sharma on the pressure of playing for India: Speaking about the new challenge or the pressure on playing for India, Rohit says it’s always going to be high pressure. And the focus should be on the job and nothing else. “When you are playing cricket for India, it’s going to be always high pressure. The pressure is always going to be there….there will be a lot of people talking about it…you know positive, negative. But for me personally as a cricketer, not as a captain, as a cricketer, it’s important for me to focus on my job and not focus on what people are talking about.”
Message for the team: Team India ODI skipper further says that the message for the team is pretty much simple and similar to what he has said perhaps a million times before, i.e. focus on your job and don’t focus on the talks around in media or outside. “Even the team understands that ..when we are playing a high-profile tournament, you know there will be a lot of talks. It is important for us to focus on what we have in hand which is to go and win the games, play the way you are known to play.”
Rohit Sharma, who has captained India 32 times to date, said he was “deeply honoured” to lead the side.
“I’m deeply honoured and grateful for the opportunity. It’s a huge responsibility. I’m absolutely happy about it. I look forward to leading team India in white ball cricket. It’s going to be an exciting journey, something that I’m looking forward to,” said Rohit.
“Whenever I’ve gotten an opportunity I’ve tried to keep it very simple, tried to keep one thing in common which is clear communication to the players, making sure that they understand their role,” he added.
The Indian limited-overs skipper will make sure there is “clear communication” between the players.
“For us, the coach-captain, it’s important to make sure that we have clear communication and clear understanding of a player’s role,” said Rohit.
“That is something that I will be looking forward to doing, making sure that people do understand what they’ve been picked for in the team, what they have to do as an individual,” he signed off.
Also Read: Sourav Ganguly backs new white-ball captain Rohit Sharma, says he won Asia Cup without Virat Kohli
Team India tour of South Africa begins later this month with the 1st Test scheduled for December 26. The Indian stars will travel to South Africa on December 16.
For more latest updates on India tour of South Africa, follow InsideSport.in
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