India limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma wants his team to win at least two out of the next three World Cups and says the management is making a conscious effort to give young players adequate chances to prove themselves.
Rohit spoke his mind in an Instagram live session with former India spinner Harbhajan Singh.
"My personal aim is that we as a team should be able to win at least two World Cups out of three coming up," he said referring to the T20 World Cup in 2020 and 2021 and 50-over World Cup in 2023.
India have not won a global event since the 2013 Champions Trophy. Rohit had hit a record five hundreds in the 2019 World Cup but India could not go beyond the semi-finals.
"Probably, if we did not lose wickets in the that opening half hour (against New Zealand), we could have won the game. Those 10 overs were really important," said Rohit, recalling India's batting collapse in the all-important semi-finals.
In the recent past, India have tried many players in the middle-order but that department still looks unsettled, though Shreyas Iyer has emerged as a solid number four.
"We keep talking about backing players in the team so that they can cement their places. There is a lot of pressure on captain and coach to pick the players and back them.
"It is important to give them enough chances. We have heard about how dada (Sourav Ganguly) backed you (Harbhajan) and Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh). How they backed you and then you delivered. Same way we should do it, the process is on. Whoever is being backed at the moment will get adequate chances."
Rohit recollected the time when he got into the Indian team.
"When you don't get a consistent run, the player's confidence is hit. It happened with me also. It depends on the individual how he utilises that opportunity.
"We should back the players till the time you are absolutely sure that he is not in the scheme of things in the long run."
Don't know what's happening with Dhoni, haven't heard since World Cup: Rohit
Rohit says he has no idea "what's happening" with elusive former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, about whom he hasn't heard anything since India's semi-final exit from the World Cup last year.
With the IPL postponed indefinitely, the chances of an improbable India comeback look even more bleak for Dhoni, who has not played cricket for months now.
Rohit said that he has "no news about Dhoni".
"We don't know what's happening with him. We haven't heard any news about him. The last match of the World Cup was in July. From there, till now we haven't heard anything, I have no idea," Rohit said during the live chat.
In his typical tongue-in-cheek manner, Rohit said that anyone who wants to know about Dhoni should personally contact him.
"When MS Dhoni is not playing cricket, he goes out of radar. He goes underground. Whoever wants to know, you can directly go to him, you know he stays in Ranchi.
"You can't go now but after the lockdown, you take a car, bike or flight go to his place and ask him 'What are you going to do? Will you play or not?" he quipped.
Earlier India coach Ravi Shastri had said that IPL would have decided Dhoni's fate while legends like Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev feel that it is difficult for him to make a comeback after such a long self-imposed exile.