MUMBAI
\nSkipper Rohit Sharma on Thursday said India were \u201cdesperate\u201d to break their ICC trophy drought in the upcoming World Cup at home, adding the host team had the \u201cinner \u201cconfidence\u201d and \u201cself-belief\u201d to win the global title.
\nIndia have failed to claim an Inter\u00acnational Cricket Council (ICC) event title for a decade now, with their last major win coming in the 2013 Champions Trophy, two years after their World Cup triumph at home. This year\u2019s ICC World Cup is set be hosted by India from Oct 5 to Nov 19.
\n\u201cI have never won a [50-overs] World Cup, it\u2019s a dream to win a World Cup and to be here fighting for it, nothing makes me happier than that,\u201d Sharma told the media in Mumbai on the sidelines of a La Liga promotional event, according to a Press Trust of India report.
\nThe Indian captain is a brand ambassador of the Spanish football league.
\n\u201cYou don\u2019t get World Cups on a platter, you have to really work hard and that is what we have been doing all these years, from 2011 till now we all are fighting for it,\u201d he added.
\n\u201cEveryone is desperate to go and win, because we know we have a good team. We are all good players, that inner confidence and self-belief is there that they can do it. It\u2019s not happened doesn\u2019t mean that we take it lightly. When we lost the 2022 World Cup, I said we will keep fighting for the next World Cup,\u201d the 36-year-old captain continued.
\nRight-handed Sharma said no batter had succeeded in settling into the vital number four slot in the ODI team since the retirement of veteran Yuvraj Singh who last represented India in 2017.
\nIndia are struggling to find a batter for number four slot, something that has also troubled them during the 2019 50-over World Cup held in England.
\nShreyas Iyer, who is on a comeback trail after a long injury layoff, did well in his 20 matches at No. 4, scoring 805 runs at 47.35 with two centuries and five fifties.
\n\u201cLook, No. 4 has been an issue for us for a long time. After Yuvi [Yuvraj], nobody has come and settled themselves in.
\n\u201cBut, for a long period of time, Shreyas has actually batted at No. 4 and he has done well \u2014 his numbers are really good,\u201d Sharma said. \u201cUnfortunately, injuries have given him a bit of trouble due to which he has been out for a while.\u201d
\nThe India captain said injuries to players in key positions has hampered the team in the longer run.
\n\u201cThe percentage of injuries that have happened in the last 4-5 years, it is massive. When the players get injured or are not available, you try doing different things with different players \u2014 that is what I have to say about No. 4,\u201d he said.
\nSharma emphasised the importance of resting the players.
\n\u201cLast year there was the T20 World Cup, so we didn\u2019t play ODI cricket. Now also we are doing the same, the ODI World Cup is there, so we are not playing T20s,\u201d he underlined.
\n\u201cYou can\u2019t play everything and be ready for the World Cup. We decided this two years ago. [Ravindra] Jadeja is also not playing T20, you did not ask about him? I understand about the focus [on himself and Virat]. But Jadeja is also not playing,\u201d Sharma said in reply to a query about him and Kohli missing India\u2019s recent T20 assignments.
\n\u201cIt is a [50-over] World Cup year; we want to keep everyone fresh; already we had so many injuries in the team that I am scared of injuries now,\u201d he continued.
\nSharma revealed that the team management had a discussion with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on the aspect of managing the players\u2019 workload.
\n\u201cWe had a discussion with the BCCI also that we need to look after the players well. Whenever we have an opportunity to rest players, we will rest players and rotate them. We don\u2019t want anyone to miss the key events. A couple of our key players missed some big events in the last two years and we don\u2019t want that,\u201d he said.
\nWith both KL Rahul \u2014 India\u2019s preferred option for number five as wicket-keeper\/batter \u2014 and Iyer on comeback trail, Sharma said they would wait and watch how these two players went.
\n\u201cNo one is an automatic [selection], even I am not. We have this thing where nobody is guaranteed a spot. We cannot say that \u2018you are there after all\u2019 or things like that,\u201d the captain said candidly.
\n\u201cYes, some players know that they are going to play but at this point in time, playing three ODIs in the West Indies [late last month] was a good opportunity to look at a few guys. In the [forthcoming] Asia Cup, again, we will face good opposition,\u201d he said.
\nSharma, himself a veteran of 244 ODIs, said while he was tasked with leading the team, his primary job was to do well as a batter.
\n\u201cI need to do first as a batter. Captaincy is secondary. My role in the team is more as a batter. Obviously to captain well as well, [but] first of all, I have to score big runs and win games for the team,\u201d he emphasised.
\nWhile Sharma backed Suryakumar Yadav to find his form in ODIs, he also said India would have to see for how long they would keep backing the world\u2019s top-ranked T20 International batter, who has now been moved to number six.
\n\u201cHe is really working hard, and he is talking to a lot of guys who have played a lot of ODI cricket as to what kind of attitude and mindset [to have]\u2026 like that,\u201d the Indian skipper said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MUMBAI Skipper Rohit Sharma on Thursday said India were \u201cdesperate\u201d to break their ICC trophy drought in the upcoming World Cup at home, adding the host team had the \u201cinner \u201cconfidence\u201d and \u201cself-belief\u201d to win the global title. India have failed to claim an Inter\u00acnational Cricket Council (ICC) event title for a decade now, with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348759,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-348731","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n