Rohit Sharma wishes to take forward Virat Kohli's ODI template as India captain: Not much we need to change
India Today
Rohit Sharma said on Saturday that the South Africa series defeat was a great learning curve for his side and the Indian team will continue to play the same brand of cricket that they played under Virat Kohli in ODIs.
India's newly-appointed full-time limited-overs captain Rohit Sharma expressed his desire to continue from where ex-skipper Virat Kohli left in ODI cricket. Rohit said that there was not much that India needed to change and they could continue playing the same brand of cricket that Kohli's team played in ODIs.
After suffering a humiliating series whitewash at the hands of South Africa in the away series, India are now back in familiar settings with a new ODI captain in Rohit, who will team up with the illustrious Rahul Dravid and strive to get India back to winning ways.
The series-opener is the historic 1000th ODI for India, who would like to begin their preparations for the 2023 World Cup after failing to win the coveted trophy in 2015 and 2019, and the team will indeed look at a paradigm shift in strategy.
"There's not much we need to change. On certain occasions, there will be situations where we will need to change our game. Being open to doing different things at different times is a requirement and it is a talk we have had. It's not like I need to come in and change things drastically. I will be giving the players the clarity of what is expected out of them," Rohit told reporters in the press conference.
Rohit further pointed out that India's win percentage in ODIs is over 70% over the last few years. The numbers, hence, suggest how good the team has been.
"Our ODI win percentage has been over 70% if I am not wrong. We have tried to speak to individuals about things that need to be done. It's not like you need to come in and copy other teams. We have a different setup, we play a certain way. I am open to changes in approach and have spoken to the guys about it. But, we can't change too many things.
"We don't want to complicate things. We have played remarkable cricket. There are certain moments we need to capitalise on. The guys coming in haven't played a lot of ODI cricket. The experience is going to be very crucial. Over the next few months, we'll try to do things a little differently," he concluded.
