Follow UsRohit Sharma, who is now India's captain in all three formats, said he doesn't mind playing every single game in bio-secure environments and will only take a break when he feels the need for it. There were questions before Rohit's appointment as Test captain on whether he will be keen on leading across formats amid a hectic international schedule but the Indian skipper set the record straight.
"At the moment, I have no issues and looking forward to playing all the games," Rohit said ahead of India's three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, starting on Thursday (February 24) in Lucknow.
"The workload always depends on what happens thereafter and you take day by day and understand what you do and if a break is needed, you take a break and someone else comes in. You see how the other guy who can fill in, what sort of potential he has. At the moment, it seems to be okay."
Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested for the ODI and T20I series against West Indies, is back in the Indian set-up and will act as a deputy to the skipper in the absence of KL Rahul who sustained a hamstring injury earlier this month. Talking about his Mumbai Indians teammate, Rohit said he knows how Bumrah thinks and feels this role will only make him more confident.
"Honestly, it’s a good way for him to step into the leadership role now. He has taken his game to another level and I’m sure he wants to continue to do that even further. But this is only going to add and get him more confident in whatever he wants to do on the field.
"It’s nice to have him as a vice-captain for this particular series. Let’s hope everything works out pretty well. I know him closely and I talk to him a lot about cricket. I do understand what sort of cricketing brain he has. So, yeah, it’s nice to have him there as the vice-captain."
India, who were already without KL Rahul, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant, will also miss the services of Suryakumar Yadav (hairline fracture on his hand) and Deepak Chahar (right quadriceps injury). However, Suryakumar's absence will allow Sanju Samson to cement his place in the Indian T20I set-up.
The right-handed dasher last played for India in July 2021 but was impressive in the last edition of the Indian Premier League. Considering the next T20 World Cup will be played in Australia, Rohit feels Samson could prove to be handy.
"That guy has got talent. Whenever we have seen him bat, he has produced an innings where everyone goes over the moon watching that. He has got the skill-set to succeed. Now that is the whole point about this sport, a lot of people have skill-set, have talent, but it is how you utilise them is the most critical part and I think, it is up to Sanju to understand how he wants to utilise the talent and how he can maximise it. Because as a team, as a team management, we see a lot of potential, we see a lot of talent and we see a lot of match-winning abilities in that individual.
"I hope we give him that confidence when he gets playing for us, and whenever he gets an opportunity I hope he understands that and definitely, he is under consideration, which is why he is part of this team.
"His back-foot play is superb, some of the shots you must have seen during the IPL, the pick-up pull, the cut shots, standing and delivering over bowler's head. Those kinds of shots are not easy to play and I believe when we go to Australia, you need those kinds of shot-making abilities and Samson does have it in him. I just hope that he utilises his potential to the maximum."
While he expects the three potential future captains -- Rahul, Bumrah and Pant -- to grow organically as leaders, he did outline his own role in being the bridge. "I won't have that much of a role in telling them everything and obviously they all are mature cricketers but someone needs to be around to help them and guide them in difficult situations. I will be more than happy do that and that is how we have grown up and come through the ranks of becoming captain."
Although he didn't take any names, it was Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who had earmarked both Virat Kohli and Rohit as flag-bearers of Indian cricket during his tenure as captain. "We were also groomed by someone else. It's a natural process and everyone goes through this, we are no different here and we are same. If we talk of Bumrah, KL, Pant, all these guys, they have a big role to play in India's success and at the same time, (they are) looked upon as leaders as well."
But while he wants to prepare them for bigger roles, he also doesn't want them to deviate from their primary target, which is to win games for India. "They do understand what they need to do as individuals and there's a responsibility on their shoulders and again I don't want to put any pressure on them, these guys are very critical to us and we want these guys to come out freely and execute skills."
💬 💬 "Keep scoring runs and the opportunity will arise."
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 23, 2022
Ahead of the @Paytm #INDvSL T20I series opener, #TeamIndia Captain @ImRo45 shares his message for all the batters playing in the ongoing #RanjiTrophy. 👍🏻 👍🏻 pic.twitter.com/Kz6ExofX4R
Rohit also advised young batters aspiring to represent the country and currently playing in Ranji Trophy to keep scoring runs and not worry about selection as opportunities are bound to arise. India U-19 World Cup-winning skipper Yash Dhull and Mumbai's Sarfaraz Khan are among those who have scored centuries in the opening round of Ranji Trophy.
"All I can tell them is keep scoring runs and the opportunity will arise as it has for (Hanuma) Vihari and Shreyas Iyer, Shubhman Gill and all those guys, who are part of the test team now.
"A lot of these guys, I know, you got to keep scoring runs, you got yo to keep your head down and keep doing your job, that is what I can tell them at the moment and that is all we can expect them also to do. And if there will be a time the opportunity will arise, pretty sure that they will also be focussing on, getting more and more runs rather than worrying about if I am getting selected for not and things like that."
Stressing that selection of playing XI depends on a lot of factors, Rohit said that his team will look to do well in the two Tests against Sri Lanka, which will be played next month in Mohali and Bengaluru.
"A lot of things depend on what sort of combination we have at the moment in our particular squad and what pitches we are playing on, the opposition, and things like that. So a lot of selection depends on that as well moving forward. But like I clearly said there are only three Test matches. For the two Test matches we have announced the team and there is one Test which will be played in England. We will see about England later."
(With inputs from PTI)