Captain Rohit Sharma has urged his players to adopt a more positive approach since the team has often failed to recover from early collapses keeping in mind the T20 World Cup this year in Australia and the ODI World Cup at home in 2023. On Thursday at Lord’s, India were reduced to 31 for four in the 12th over when Virat Kohli departed.
They never really recovered, folding up for 146 in their chase of a 247-run target. Rohit said India needed to do things differently when faced with high-pressure situations, going as far back as the 2017 Champions Trophy final against Pakistan, when they were reduced to 72 for 6 in their chase of 339 and ultimately lost by 180 after being dismissed for 158.
“It has happened for us on a few occasions now,” Rohit said at Lord’s. “We’ve spoken about that a lot, it has happened not just in the 2019 World Cup, but also in the (2017) Champions Trophy and a few other games as well, where we were put under pressure, we lost wickets and we were 20 for 3 or 40 for 4.
“That is where I want the guys to change their mindset a little bit and try to be a little positive, extra positive and try and take the game on. Because I know the target is small, you are chasing 230/240... but is there another way that you can take when you are chasing a target like that? Is there something different you can do as a batting unit? And I think so, yes, you can,” Rohit said.
“It is also a challenge for us when we lose 5-6 wickets, we need to learn how to score runs lower down the order, we need to focus on improving our balance, because whatever the situation of the game, if you back yourself, then you will get runs.” Rohit obviously wants his batters to play with attacking intent as witnessed during the T20I series in England recently.
“I want these guys to take the game on and see if they can find something different about their own game… If they get the team out of that situation, imagine the confidence they are going to get from that. “It is something that has been spoken about, but it depends on the individual at that moment as well. That is where the role of the management comes into play... to ask them to play freely and show them that what they are trying in the middle is absolutely right.”
