After India secured a six-wicket victory in the opening match against Afghanistan, captain Rohit Sharma discussed the team’s approach, emphasizing the importance of trying different strategies and putting players in uncomfortable situations ahead of the T20 World Cup scheduled for June.
Rohit, who marked his comeback to the T20 format after 14 months, expressed the team’s intent to challenge themselves in unfamiliar scenarios, such as having bowlers operate in different situations. Washington Sundar’s role in bowling the 19th over was cited as an example of this experimentation.
“We want to keep trying different things – try and bowl our bowlers in different situations of the game. We want to challenge ourselves in the areas we are slightly uncomfortable with, and the bowlers are not used to that,” Rohit stated during the post-match presentation.
Despite the run-out mix-up with Shubman Gill that led to Rohit’s dismissal without scoring, the captain acknowledged that such incidents happen in cricket, expressing frustration but emphasizing the primary focus on the team’s victory.
“There are a lot of positives. Shivam Dube, the way Jitesh batted, Tilak as well, and then Rinku is in good form as well,” Rohit added, highlighting the positive aspects of the match.
Man of the match Shivam Dube, who contributed an unbeaten 60 off 40 balls and took a wicket with his medium pace, expressed satisfaction with his performance and noted the pressure of playing after a long time. He emphasized the mindset of focusing on the ball and relying on his ability to hit big sixes in T20s.
The T20I series against Afghanistan is India’s final preparation before the T20 World Cup, and Rohit Sharma indicated that the team would continue to experiment while aiming for victory.