Rohit Sharma: ‘I do not assume there’s a favorite or an underdog’

Let’s get the mildly ridiculous out of the way in which first, we could? Midway by the press convention, a reporter requested him about tears in his eyes through the nationwide anthem. “What are you talking about?” Rohit requested. “Tears in eyes?”

Rohit lit up the room with that and likewise went on to say he could not deny he does really feel emotional when the nationwide anthem is enjoying.

Then he mentioned: “I don’t think there is any disadvantage. You feel nice about playing in front of your home crowd. They get behind you no matter what the situation of the game is. My overall experience playing, not just in India, even outside India, we get massive support. So, I have so far never experienced where the crowd has gone against us or anything like that.

“So, I take a look at this as benefit, huge benefit. But we all know that ultimately it boils all the way down to enjoying good cricket. And no matter it takes to win the sport, you have to try this. So sure, you should utilize the help, however ultimately, you have to play good cricket to win the sport.

“All the guys are quite used to playing in front of big crowds. It can only work in your favour. It cannot work against you. A lot of the guys in the team love a big crowd, the cheers, the noise in the ground. So yeah, the boys really enjoy it. Anywhere we go, people turn out in huge numbers. And that is good for the team and also good for the sport in general as well.”

The stress of expectation of such an enormous crowd, in such an enormous nation, can generally overwhelm on you. Rohit was requested how he was avoiding this within the lead-up. “I’m not on social media for past nine months now,” Rohit mentioned. “Everyone [else] has their own way of dealing with it. Some people like it, some don’t. But that’s not my place to tell anyone how to do it. They have to work out their own way of dealing with these things.

“Like I mentioned many instances earlier than, within the context of it, sure, it is a large sport. But for us, what’s vital is, we’re enjoying an opposition tomorrow, which can be high quality. So, we have simply obtained to return in opposition to a high quality opposition and play good cricket, which we have completed within the final two video games. And hopefully we will once more present some consistency in our efficiency and play sport of cricket.”

There was no attempt to score psychological points either. “I do not assume it [7-0 record against Pakistan in World Cups] is a psychological benefit. Because it’s important to play good cricket day-after-day. So, it is vital for us as a staff that we, as I mentioned, mustn’t pay an excessive amount of consideration to what’s already over. And, we must also take note of the contemporary day, the contemporary opposition.

“Both the teams will start evenly. I don’t think there is a favourite or an underdog. Both the teams are equal before they go into the game. It’s just about handling the pressure, dictating terms.”