Follow UsThat India hasn't won an ICC title in nearly 10 years is no open secret. But, the Indian skipper was quick to reiterate what Rahul Dravid said yesterday - that the trophy isn't something they are too focused on. The Indian team has been under the scanner for various reasons, including the lack of a trophy in the recent past.
"No, see we know what we have won and what we have not won. There is no point in thinking about it again and again. Last year when we were in Australia for the T20 World Cup, we were asked the same question, and I answered the same question."
"The players know when India won and when they didn't. I don't think it is right to think about it again and again. You have to focus on the situation and how we can do better. All the players and coaching staff are focused on how we can do well in this match and win."
"Because what has happened and what is going to happen in the future, there is no point in thinking about that. It is very important to think about the present. Our team's focus is on how we will win this match."
Talking about the final, a big question for the think-tank to answer is about who will play at #8. Despite R Ashwin not being a first-choice option in overseas Tests, the lack of options in the present squad makes him a frontrunner.
"Yeah, see, I've not said that Ashwin is not going to play. We'll wait until tomorrow - because one thing I have seen here - the pitch actually changes quite a bit day to day. Today it's looking the way it is. Tomorrow it might be slightly different, who knows. So the message to the boys has been very clear, all 15 must be ready to play at any point in time. And we'll see the conditions tomorrow as well and make that decision as to who gets into that playing 11."
While Rohit was keen on keeping his cards close to his chest, he felt that a neutral venue helped provide a level playing field for both teams.
"But honestly - for us, it doesn't really matter because we know what is at stake and we need to focus on that. And that is what the team is going to do. Whoever uses the conditions really well, probably will win the game. As simple as that. And also handling the pressure during the course of this five days because there will be times where the teams will be under pressure in this five days so you just got to adapt and handle that pressure really well to come out on top."
Till the beginning of last year, Shubman Gill was yet to make the jump to the next level. However, in the last few series, he has answered his critics the best way possible; with his bat. Given his current form and the spate of injuries plaguing the Indian team, Gill will be central to India's plans of winning the final.
"No, actually the way he is batting at the moment, I don't think he needs any advice. It's just about his preparation, how he has prepared in the last 5 or 6 days since he has come back from the IPL. He has played in these conditions before. He played that World Test Championship final and then he played that one-off test match which happened last year as well.
"You know Gil is somebody who likes to bat. You know he's a batter who likes to bat, likes to spend a lot of time in the middle, as you saw. I know even though it was a T20 format, but you saw he got big, big hundreds. Likes to be out there in the middle, you know, and face that challenge."
"That is what he likes, and that is what I will also hope and Team India will also hope that he spends a lot of time in the middle and play well like he has been doing in the last 6 or 8 months - so to be honest not really too much to tell him."
"It's just about for him, giving him that confidence, because he's a very confident player. So it's just about, giving him more and more confidence."
The number of injuries in Indian team have hit unprecedented levels, and a lot of it has to do with their packed schedules. Rohit did speak about trying to stay fresh ahead of any series, he also felt that his members had now gotten used to such a lifestyle.
While "workload management" has been the buzzword in cricketing circles for the last few years, there's not been much action taken by boards towards enabling players take longer breaks.
"We've been playing cricket like this for the last, I don't know how many years, series after series. I don't know when was the last time we had a good amount of break. But honestly, all the guys are used to playing a lot of cricket now. That is why we talk about this workload management."
"We try and rest players wherever we can to make sure that they are fresh for this upcoming series and things like that. This is part of your job now. You do understand that there's a lot of cricket that has been played.
"But it's important to manage the players, manage their loads, make sure that they're fresh and we are trying everything we can from our side to make sure that everyone's fresh and it's not just now - even last year we played IPL, then we came to UK we played that test match and then we played three ODIs, three T20s after that."
"So it's been happening almost every year now like that. So it's nothing new for us. We are quite used to this kind of schedule. But that is where the management comes into play of managing players and their workloads."