“You heard the great man (Sachin Tendulkar) say that so many times that you know, until he wins the World Cup, he’s got a bit of unfinished business. I’m sure you know who I’m talking about.”
Rohit Sharma was very candid in response to a query on what not winning a World Cup would mean for this generation of cricketers. He used the two words – unfinished business — which have been used in the past by Sachin Tendulkar, one of the greatest to have played the game. It took the “great man” six appearances in the multi-nation event to finally get his hands on the title in 2011 and the year was a landmark one for the Indian cricket team.
They ended the long wait of winning the World Cup and the victory was sweeter because it came in front of a packed home crowd at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. One Mumbaikar ended his wait that night but for another right-hander from the same state, it was a moment to reflect and prepare for the road ahead. Not picked in the squad, the then 24-year-old Rohit went back to the drawing board and never looked back. Yes, there was disappointment of not making it to the squad and he has time and again spoken about that but there was intent of putting his career on track too.
‘Big deal for me’
In 12 years, he not only stamped authority with the bat but also made the world stand up and take note of his captaincy skills. Multiple titles with Mumbai Indians later, he was given the responsibility to lead the Indian side across formats and is now hours away from walking out for the toss as the Indian captain in a World Cup.
“It’s a huge honour to be part of this World Cup team, firstly, and then being the captain. 50-over World Cup is the biggest sporting event in cricketing history. So, for me, this is the biggest event that I will be part of. And being the captain as well, yes, it’s a huge honour. I’ve said it many a times that it was always a dream to be part of the World Cup team. And then now to be part of the team and then the captain, I don’t know how to describe that because it’s a big deal for me,” says Rohit Sharma at the pre-match presser.
It is a big deal. Very big deal to not only play for India but then captain India. Even bigger deal to play for India in a World Cup and probably the biggest deal to walk out for the toss as captain. Even the “great man” (read Sachin Tendulkar) doesn’t have that feather in his hat. Rohit the batter enjoyed a lot of success in the 2019 edition where he smashed five hundreds as an opener but this – a World Cup on home soil – is going to be a different ball game altogether and wherever they go, whatever they do, the Cup question and pressure will continue to be with them.
“World Cup being a different ball game, yes, it’s World Cup, but we want to treat this as a tournament for us as we come against different opposition, we focus on that opposition and then move on from there, not worry about what lies ahead, what’s there for us in the future and things like that. That can only add pressure. But how you can cut down the pressure is just focus on what’s coming up for us tomorrow and then keeping it very simple,” says Rohit.
As far as his own batting is concerned, Rohit Sharma wants to continue putting the team first.
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“And for me as a batter, yes, I want to focus on what I can do the best for the team, whatever is required, whether it is giving good starts, batting as long as possible. I’ll try and do everything that is required for the team,” adds the captain.
Not getting desperate
World Cup is probably the greatest prize for any cricketer but chasing greatness can often lead to desperation and Rohit wants his squad to follow the “procedure”, the “process”. For Rohit, hunger to do well is fine but hunger shouldn’t mean desperation.
“You want to win the World Cup, It’s the biggest prize that you can have in your career. But again, there’s a way to do it. There’s a procedure that you need to follow. There’s a process to it. In desperation, you can do so many things that can lead into so many other things as well. So, it’s good to be desperate. It’s good to be hungry.
But you’ve got to find that balance, right? Balance to stay desperate and stay hungry for, scoring runs, lifting the trophy, winning games, whatever that is. But there is a balance that you need to find. You cannot get way too ahead of yourself because that can lead into something that you don’t really wish for,” says Rohit.
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The skipper concluded a very from-the-heart presser on a hopeful note. Hope that the team gets the right dose of luck to go all the way in the tournament.
“And then obviously we have to leave a lot of things to Almighty as well because we need that luck, a little bit of luck in the tournament. I hope we get that luck,” says Rohit.
“But yeah, it will be nice to win a World Cup,” adds Rohit with a smile and a lot of optimism in his tone.
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