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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) senior national selection committee, on Tuesday, September 5, released India's 15 players for the upcoming ODI World Cup to be held at home, with no surprises as the likes of KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah make their return to the side.
Leading the line as expected is Rohit Sharma, who attended the press conference along with chief selector Ajit Agarkar, as Team India chase their third ODI World Cup trophy. One question he was asked was about the environment surrounding the India vs Pakistan match, which left him furious!
"I have said this so many times. We don't care what happens on the outside. All the players in our team are professional. Don't ask me such questions. I won't ask such questions. It doesn't make sense to talk about such things. Our focus is something else and we do not care about these things," Sharma said, giving a blunt response to the question.
The India skipper was otherwise in good spirits as well, as he said that playing at home in the ODI World Cup 2023 does not have as much pressure as people make it out to be.
When asked about ending India's ICC trophy drought which has lasted for a decade now. As far as the Hitman is concerned, his focus remains firmly on every player performing to the best of their ability and letting the chips fall where they may.
"There's no pressure in the World Cup. We will just go and play as per our ability," Rohit said in the press conference.
He also admitted India's weakness with the bat in the tail end, saying, "We have to create the batting depth. Obviously, the 8 and 9 become crucial when it comes to batting depth. We fell a little short at the back end with the bat. Their job is not just to bowl the opposition out but also to score some runs. 10 or 15 runs could be the difference between winning and losing," Sharma said during the press conference.
"I have not thought about plans yet. The problem of plenty is a good problem to have. We have to see who is in form and who our opposition is. We need to see what the best possible combination could be. If someone misses out, then so be it. This keeps happening. You have to make tough calls for the team," he further added.
India squad for ODI World Cup 2023
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (vc), Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav.
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