Rohit Sharma on what India must cross the ultimate hurdle in ICC tournaments: ‘Firstly I want all my players to be available’

10 years. It’s been over 10 years since India final lifted an ICC title. The tenth anniversary of their Champions Trophy triumph in June was a jarring reminder within the aftermath of the current World Test Championship summit conflict loss to Australia. Indian cricket has boasted skills unparalleled however has been unable to win a world championship title for what has been a substantial drought. Four defeat in finals and as many within the semifinals in the course of the interval.

So, when captain Rohit Sharma was requested as to what he issues has been the ultimate puzzle lacking within the Indian lineup, pat got here the response, “Firstly I want all my players to be available. I want all of them to be 100 percent. We don’t want any injury concerns.” This, a day earlier than India tackle West Indies within the first of two Tests which can be a part of a multi-format tour.

India go into the collection lacking some vital names, the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, who miss out on the collection owing to a recurring harm problem and a voluntary resting interval respectively. While Shami has been the chief of India’s tempo assault in Bumrah’s absence, the latter final featured for India in September final yr – lacking out on the next T20 World Cup and the current WTC Final. With lower than 100 days remaining in a house ODI World Cup, Bumrah’s health stays a significant concern.

Coming again to India’s dismal run within the ICC tournaments, the skipper was decided to look on the brighter aspect, “We’ve not crossed the line in a long time. But I feel, as long as you keep ticking the boxes and keep doing the right things, it will all fall into place. Over the years, we’ve done a lot of good things. It’s just that sometimes you want luck to be by your side as well. If you look over last five-six years, we’ve played consistent cricket. We’ve won everywhere. But yeah, winning championship is more important. Until we get that championship, we’re going to keep fighting for it.”

A brand new WTC cycle, a brand new alternative

With India kicking off a brand new WTC cycle on Wednesday, Rohit denied dumbing down the West Indies collection as a forgone conclusion and instructed that it was as vital as another fixture in the whole cycle.

“Every series you play for India is challenging. Whether it’s the first game of a WTC cycle or the last. Every game is important. We played two WTC cycles and two finals but couldn’t win what we wanted to. But this is a new opportunity,” he mentioned.

The skipper additional instructed that going ahead, acclimatizing with the brand new gamers at hand shall be a problem for the workforce. “(It’s) a new team. Many new players have come in and will keep coming. That’s going to be a separate challenge in itself in this cycle. A good challenge. And to begin it against the West Indies….they play well at home. Their past record at their home grounds has been very good, so it will be a good challenge for our team. I’ll hope we live up to it and play well.”