Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma on Friday said his batsmen will have to rely on their experience to take on Pakistan’s formidable fast bowling trio in the much-awaited Asia Cup clash here on Saturday. The Indian batting line-up led by Rohit and Virat Kohli will be a thrilling contest when they take on the likes of Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
Use experience
When Rohit was asked about this on the eve of the match, he said, “Shaheen, Naseem and Rauf are not giving us batting practice in the net sessions. We practice with the bowlers we have. They are all skilled bowlers. We will have to use our experience against them.” About the Pakistan team’s performance, Rohit said, “Pakistan is a good team. It has performed well in the last few years. Plays good cricket. It will be a challenge for us to play against them.
Fitness test of players completed
Even after the start of the tournament, the Indian team is going through some fitness issues. Lokesh Rahul is not available for selection while Jasprit Bumrah, Ishtan Krishna and Shreyas Iyer are making a comeback to the ODI team after a long absence. When Rohit was asked about the team’s fitness, he said, “This (Asia Cup 2023) is not a fitness test by any means. The tournament is played between the top six teams in Asia. This is a very big tournament.”
He said, “The ‘fitness test, fitness camp’, it was all done in Bengaluru. Now we have to go ahead and face our opponent and see what we can achieve in this (tournament).
Nice to have a group of players
India will enter the field with its full team after a long time. However, the team will miss players like Rahul and Rishabh Pant. Rohit said it is good to include more than one player in selection for important tournaments.
“I’d rather have this type of headache than not have a headache of choice,” he said. It is always good to have a great group of players to pick from in such a tournament. The Indian skipper said, “It will be a very challenging task for us to select the final 11. However, I want to make sure that we don’t have any injury worries and that will be a good sign for us going forward.
Playing the Indian team’s XI?
Rohit did not reveal much about India’s combination for the match against Pakistan. He said that the team will address the deficiency in each department before the match. He said, “Look, all kinds of combination options are available. We watched yesterday’s (Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka) match. It saw a bit of swing, a bit of spin, everything.
He said, “It is always challenging for batsmen. Our batsmen do not lack experience. I will let that experience come and play accordingly. Rohit said that it will be important for the batsmen to play according to the situation.
Plans for the Asia Cup
He said, “This is not a T20 match, so we have to play long innings. We want each player to play his natural game while remaining aggressive. “Many of our players have experience of playing in these conditions,” he said, “They know our plan. He knows the mindset we have to go into the field when we are playing against a strong opponent.