A lot of character in the squad – Rohit Sharma on India’s experienced players stepping up

After an iconic win against England in the World Cup 2023 clash in which Indian cricket captain Rohit Sharma played the star role with an 87-run knock that was critical to drive India towards a challenging total, the stylish opener was rightfully named as Player of the Match. 

While Rohit did speak about his own knock and an important partnership with KL Rahul during the post-match conference, the India skipper also elaborated on how India delivered a crushing blow to England. 

Rohit started with how India had to prepare to launch a decent total in the first place, stating, “This was the game, a lot of character in the squad. When the times were tough, all our experienced players stood up at the right time and got the game for us. Looking at how the tournament has gone for us, batting second in the first five games, we had to come and bat here.”

He also highlighted India’s woes with the bat, stating, “We were challenged upfront, they bowled pretty well upfront. For us to get to a total on a pitch that had something in it, we just wanted to get to a total where we could play with it. We were not great with the bat today.”

He then shed some light on how India battled those early jitters and they turned things around remarkably well, adding, “Losing three wickets isn't the ideal situation. When you are in a situation like that, all you are looking to do is create that long partnership, which we got. But a couple of guys threw it at the end, including myself. All I was thinking was to be positive, the balls in my area I want to put it away, that's how you put pressure back on the bowlers and the opposition as well. When you look at the overall picture, I thought we were 30 runs short.”

Rohit reserved high praises for the Indian bowling attack as he said, “It's not something you see everyday. When you start your innings, you have to somehow try and get a couple of wickets to put the pressure back on the opposition. With the experience that our seamers have now, you can always rely and bank on them to get those crucial breakthroughs. That's exactly what our seamers did. They exploited the conditions pretty well. There was swing, there was lateral movement as well. They put the ball in the right areas to create that doubt in the batters' mind.”

He eventually concluded by another note for his bowling unit, stating, “We have a good balance, couple of good spinners, and the seamers have a lot of experience playing in these conditions. There's a fair bit of options and experience as well. It's very important that the batters put runs on the board, give them something to work with and then rely on them to do the magic.”