NEW DELHI: Although the team has not yet been finalized, India captain Rohit Sharma believes he has roughly ten players in mind for the ICC T20 World Cup, which will take place in the Americas in June.
India's final Twenty20 match before the World Cup was the series versus Afghanistan. After a 14-month break, it also signaled Rohit and Virat Kohli's return to the format. Shivam Dube and other fringe players had a chance to show their mettle in the series, which India won 3-0.
Speaking to Jio Cinema, Rohit stated that it is the nature of professional sport that some of the most talented players would not be selected for the event in the United States.
"Like when we were playing the ODI World Cup, we tried out many boys in T20s. They perform but when the main squad is announced, some boys have to be left out. So, it is disappointing for them. But our job is to bring clarity to the team.
"So, in the pool of 25-30 players we have, they know what is expected of each player. We have still not finalised the squad for the T20 World Cup, but obviously in the mind you know the 8-10 players who are going to play," he said on Wednesday night after the third and final T20 here.
The majority of the games will take place in the Caribbean, where slower pitches are anticipated.
"In the West Indies, the conditions are quite slow, so we have to pick the squad accordingly. Again I say, Rahul bhai and I have tried to maintain clarity in the team. The one thing I have learnt from captaincy is that you can't keep everyone happy. You have to focus on the needs of the team," said the skipper.
1/10:3rd T20I: India outlast Afghanistan in second Super Over
AP
2/10:India beat Afghanistan
<p>India edged Afghanistan in a dramatic second Super Over to sweep the Twenty20 series after the third match ended in a tie following Rohit Sharma's record-setting century on Wednesday. </p>PTI
3/10:Rohit Sharma
<p>The India captain became the first batsman to hit five T20 international tons as his unbeaten 121 off 69 balls powered the hosts to 212-4 in Bengaluru after they had slipped to 22-4. </p>PTI
4/10:Rohit and Rinku
<p>Rohit, out for a duck in the opening two wins, struck 11 fours and eight sixes and put on 190 runs with Rinku Singh, who hit 69 not out off 39 balls. </p>TNN
5/10:5th T20I ton
<p>Rohit, who went past Glenn Maxwell and Suryakumar Yadav -- both with four T20 tons, rebuilt the innings and then tore into the opposition attack as he surpassed his previous T20 best of 118. </p>TNN
6/10:Raining sixes
<p>It was raining sixes in the final five overs when India plundered 103 runs. Rohit and Rinku smashed 36 off the final over, which included a six off a no-ball. </p>PTI
7/10:Fareed Ahmad Malik
<p>Left-arm quick Fareed Ahmad Malik returned figures of 3-20 and caused early damage with the wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal (4), Virat Kohli and Sanju Samson, both removed for first-ball ducks. </p>PTI
8/10:The run chase
<p>Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran scored 50 each to put on 93 runs for the first wicket and set up the chase. </p>AP
9/10:Gulbadin Naib
<p>Afghanistan put up a spirited response as Gulbadin Naib hit an unbeaten 55 off 23 balls to steer his side to 212-6, taking two off the final delivery to level the scores. </p>PTI
10/10:Mohammad Nabi
<p>Mohammad Nabi smashed a quickfire 34 to keep his side in the hunt and Naib helped get 18 runs off the final over from fast bowler Mukesh Kumar to tie the match. </p>PTIAfter a couple of ducks, Rohit got back among the runs with a record fifth T20 hundred. In his memorable effort, the skipper also attempted reverse hits multiple times with the surface playing out a few tricks in the powerplay.
"I have been practising it a lot in the nets. You have to play some shots in order to put the bowlers under pressure. When the ball is spinning and you can't hit straight, you have to try something new.
"I have been practising reverse sweeps and sweeps for the past two years. You would have seen me play them once or twice in Test matches. You have the options and it's up to you how you are using those options.
"The ball was spinning and gripping today so, I thought I'd play with the spin rather than step out and hit hard in front of the wicket," he said.
1/10:3rd T20I: Rohit Sharma leads India record surge against Afghanistan
TNN
2/10:Rohit Sharma
<p>Rohit Sharma registered his fifth T20I hundred, including third as captain, to become the first batter to accomplish the feat in T20Is. </p>AFP
3/10:5th T20I ton
<p>Rohit Sharma went ahead of Glenn Maxwell and Suryakumar Yadav who have four T20I hundreds each to their credit. </p>PTI
4/10:121 not out
<p>Rohit Sharma's unbeaten 121 is his career-best in T20Is, bettering the 118 against Sri Lanka at Indore on December 22, 2017. </p>AFP
5/10:Most sixes as captain
<p>Rohit Sharma's 90 sixes in 54 innings are the most by a captain in T20Is, outstripping the 86 in 65 innings by Eoin Morgan. </p>TNN
6/10:Rinku Singh
<p>Rinku Singh's unbeaten 69 is his career-best in T20Is, bettering his only other fifty — 68 not out vs South Africa at St. George's Park on December 12, 2023. </p>PTI
7/10:India's highest partnership
<p>An unbroken stand of 190 runs for the fifth wicket between Rohit Sharma and Rinku Singh is India's highest partnership for any wicket in T20Is. </p>TNN
8/10:World record stand
<p>The unbeaten 190-run stand is also a world record for the fifth wicket in T20Is, outstripping the 145 between Dipendra Airee and Kushal Malla for Nepal vs Hong Kong at Mulpani on October 21, 2023. </p>PTI
9/10:36 runs in an over
<p>36 runs scored by Rohit and Rinku off Karim Janat, emulated a record for most runs in an over (7-ball over: 4, 7nb, 6, 1, 6, 6, 6). </p>PTI
10/10:Yuvraj Singh
<p>Yuvraj Singh had scored 36 runs off Stuart Broad's 6-ball over at Durban on September 19, 2007 and Kieron Pollard — 36 off Akila Dananjaya's 6-ball over at Antigua on March 3, 2021. </p>Getty ImagesRohit also caught up on the team's World Cup preparations with the three games.
"I had not played for one year, so I discussed ideas with Rahul bhai (Dravid). Although I was watching the games, I was not playing. I got an understanding of a few things, so we wanted to implement them and also do something different.
"We wanted our bowlers to bowl in a different way, someone wasn't comfortable bowling in the power play, so we had to use them there. Some were not comfortable bowling at the death, we asked them to bowl there," he added.
(With PTI inputs)
