It's not a practice ground - it's still an international game – Rohit Sharma

As India returns to the yard once again after a successful series win against Sri Lanka, Rohit Sharma is also back as the captain of the Indian cricket team. Talking at the pre-match presser ahead of India’s 1st ODI against Sri Lanka, Sharma highlighted the exact mindset that he has ahead of the opening Sri Lanka encounter.

Shedding some light about his mindset, Sharma said, “I don’t know, I feel like I have just been rested from the T20s, like it used to happen in the past. Then there will be a big tournament coming up and we have to get ready for T20 again."

He then talked about the preparation for Team India, adding, “You get asked a lot whether this series is a preparation for the World Cup, or is this a preparation for the Champions Trophy. It's not a practice ground - it's still an international game. We will keep in our minds what we want to achieve, but this is by no means preparation or practice or anything like that. We want to come here and play good cricket and get something out of the series.”

He further added, “Of course we want to try everything possible, but when you're representing the nation the quality of cricket should remain the way it is, and how we've played over the last few years. That is more important, rather than thinking about it as a preparation and saying let's go out and chill in Colombo. We don't think like that.”

Rohit continued, “When we play a series and when we play a game, we want to get something out of that. We might tell a bowler: 'We want something different from you.' We might tell a batter: 'This is how we want you to play in the middle overs.' We want to get something out of the series, but not at the cost of going out there and having no intent or purpose. For me, the standard of Indian cricket is more important."

He concluded by stating, “"In terms of what we want to do - it's not just one particular area we're looking to improve, it's the overall game. In sports, you can't just sit happy doing something. You have to keep moving forward, and you have to keep moving up and challenge yourself. There's always something new to learn when you play a series and when you play a game. Whatever we have done, it was good for that particular time, but time keeps moving forward."