Follow UsIndia’s ODI captain, Rohit Sharma, wants everyone to move on from the 2024 T20 World Cup triumph and focus on the next big tournament, which is next year’s Champions Trophy. The Men in Blue are scheduled to play only six ODIs before the 2025 Champions Trophy, including the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, starting on August 2 (Friday) in Colombo.
"I had a good time off from cricket. It was a great feeling to come back home after winning the World Cup...what we experienced in Delhi and Mumbai. But yeah, now we have to move on, cricket moves on. Whatever we have done in the past, that was good for that particular period of time, but time keeps moving forward and we also need to keep moving forward,” said Rohit ahead of the first ODI.
This will be Rohit’s first ODI since that heartbreaking defeat in the grand finale of the 2023 ODI World Cup. "That's what happened after the 2023 World Cup. There was a lot of disappointment, but we had to move on and look forward to this World Cup. Now, that the T20 World Cup is over, we have to think about what lies ahead of us as a team. Yeah, there is plenty to look forward to, a big tournament coming up.”
When asked if these three ODIs will serve as a perfect preparation for the Champions Trophy, Rohit said: “You get asked a lot whether this series is a preparation for the World Cup, or is this a preparation for the Champions Trophy. It's not a practice ground - it' still an international game. We will keep in mind what we want to achieve, but this is by no means preparation or practice or anything like that. We want to come here and play good cricket and get something out of the series.
"Of course, we want to try everything possible, but when you're representing the nation the quality of cricket should remain the way it is, and how we've played over the last few years. That is more important, rather than thinking about it as a preparation and saying let's go out and chill in Colombo. We don't think like that.
"When we play a series and when we play a game, we want to get something out of that. We might tell a bowler: 'We want something different from you.' We might tell a batter: 'This is how we want you to play in the middle overs.' We want to get something out of the series, but not at the cost of going out there and having no intent or purpose. For me the standard of Indian cricket is more important.
"In terms of what we want to do - it's not just one particular area we're looking to improve, it's the overall game. In sports, you can't just sit happy doing something. You have to keep moving forward, and you have to keep moving up and challenge yourself. There's always something new to learn when you play a series and when you play a game. Whatever we have done, it was good for that particular time, but time keeps moving forward."
India are coming into this ODI series having clean swept Sri Lanka in the three-match T20I series. That was Gautam Gambhir’s first assignment as India’s head coach but with Rohit having announced his retirement from T20I cricket, the team was led by Surykumar Yadav. This will be the first time Rohit will be working with Gambhir.
"Gautam Gambhir has played a lot of cricket and he has been involved with franchise cricket also before. Obviously, it is going to be different from the previous support staff. Ravi Shastri was there before Rahul Dravid joined the team, every individual works differently. I have known Gambhir for a very long time and we have played a little bit of cricket together. He has a very clear mind and knows what he wants from the team.
"Basically, our chats have centred around what the team needs, what are our shortcomings, where have we done well etc. It was a discussion on how to take the team forward. But we don't want to plan too far ahead. We are here for three games, and the idea is to take something back from these three games, and learn how we want to play and what we want to achieve in ODI cricket."
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