Rohit Sharma acknowledges risk of failing as captain in World Cup

November 2, 2023, on Thursday, seems to be a big day in Rohit Sharma’s future. In a World Cup match at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium—the legendary location where Rohit has spent the most of his cricket career—the captain of India will skipper the Men in Blue for the first time. Twelve years ago, India overcame Sri Lanka in this identical stadium to win the 2011 World Cup; Rohit was not a member of that squad. In the present day, India is led by Rohit and one victory away from securing a spot in the 2023 World Cup semifinals, should they defeat Sri Lanka once more, who won the match for the eighth time in a row, will have taken a significant stride forward in Rohit’s tiny comeback tale.

Even though India has performed flawlessly in this World Cup, 1.5 billion people’s dreams could be dashed by one poor performance. Despite being the most reliable team in ICC competitions, India hasn’t taken home any medals from the competition in ten years. They won the Asia Cup last month, capping a five-year quest for a multi-nation tournament victory, but the big one remains out of reach. Both praise and mockery have been directed at Rohit’s captaincy. Fingers were directed at Rohit when India lost to England in the semi of the 2022 T20 World Cup or failed to advance to the final of the Asia Cup while being the favorites. Rohit was missing important players like Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah because of unanticipated circumstances. However, now that they are back and going full steam, Rohit is aware that there is no justification.

“That India is having a dream run is not my mental process; the boys follow the team’s thought process. When everything appears good, everything functions properly. I am aware of how everything operates. I know that sometimes, after a single game, I’ll suddenly be a poor captain. I am aware of how it operates. Before India’s World Cup match against Sri Lanka, the captain of the squad stated, “I try and do what is necessary from the team’s perspective and be sure of that.”

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India has performed flawlessly during the World Cup. Whether they are batting first or bowling, the result is always the same: victory. However, there is a very nasty component known as the Law of Averages that usually affects teams more than once during a major tournament. Except for India, every team has gone through it so far. However, considering their current winning streak, maybe even LOA is scared to get in the way of their victorious march towards the cup. Rohit is unsure if India will move to the semifinals without losing with three group matches remaining against Sri Lanka, South Africa, and the Netherlands, but he can assure fans that the squad will be approaching the remaining games with the same sincere intention as in the preceding six.

“We want to play great in every game, not just to stay undefeated,” Rohit said

“To be honest, we don’t intend to go that far. All we want is to win every game. Every game we play is crucial for us, as I have stated numerous times. How we perform well in that, what we did not achieve in the previous game, and what we can accomplish in this one. That is our main concern. We then proceed to move our car forward. It won’t be appropriate for us to consider the future and believe that we must continue to win. That, in my opinion, is not the aim. The objective is to perform well in each and every game, Rohit continued.

Rohit is aware that the supporters of the team will demand that they go the entire distance. Although Team India has performed above and beyond their expectations thus far, including hitting hundreds of runs and taking five wickets in a row, the players seem to be getting too worked up about the hype around them and the World Cup.

“I’m confident that all 15 of us (the squad) will brag about your game to anyone you meet at the airport, on the plane, or anywhere you visit in India, whether or not you are playing matches. We desire one hundred. We hope to watch you grab five wickets. We want to watch you succeed in matches, competitions, series, and everything else,” he remarked.

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“I’m positive that the players have known about all of these things from the start. It’s good that people have high expectations of us, but I believe it’s pressure. And a beautiful way to answer that is, “We know how, but right now we are enjoying playing cricket and we want to keep doing that for as long as we can and as deeply as we can.”