Rohit says T20 World Cup defeat to Pakistan a thing of the past

Rohit says India are looking ahead to a new challenge against Pakistan in the Asia Cup on Sunday

by

James Jose

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

Top Stories

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma during a press conference in Dubai on Saturday. (Photo by M. Sajjad)
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma during a press conference in Dubai on Saturday. (Photo by M. Sajjad)

Published: Sat 27 Aug 2022, 7:45 PM

They might have been on the wrong end of the result the last time the two arch-rivals met, but Indian captain Rohit Sharma said he and his side have not let the pain and the hurt linger on and added that the Asia Cup is an opportunity to start afresh.

India, who had held an envious record between the two teams when it came to World Cups, suffered the ignominy of a 10-wicket defeat, on that night at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.


But Rohit said that they had put that defeat to the back burner and are looking ahead to a new challenge on the same ground on Monday.

“We do talk about our losses, there is no doubt,” Rohit said on Saturday as India had an optional training session at the ICC Cricket Academy.


“I mean, that's how we want to improve as a team. We need to think about what we did and what we didn't do as a team, particularly on that night.

"And, of course, that loss did hurt us at that point. But I think it's been a while since that game has been played. So for us, you know, we've got another challenge in front of us now. And you know, there's no point thinking about that loss at the moment. And since then, we played a lot of games to try to correct those mistakes in the games that we played after that,” he added.

Rohit said it was about learning from their past mistakes.

“For us, as a team, that is important. You learn from your mistakes and we keep talking about it. So for us now, it's a fresh start. We now know as a team what we need to do to win games. You know, oppositions will challenge you every now and then and you just need to find ways to counter that and to respond to that," he said.

"So, for us, it will be the same. And we will not think too much about what happened in October. It was a long time ago. But yeah, the losses obviously hurt a lot but I think we moved on from that loss. You know, we played a lot of games, and there's a fresh and important tournament coming for us. So we need to try and keep our focus here right now.”

The 35-year-old also revealed that the mood in the camp is one of excitement.

“The mood in the camp is obviously buzzing. It's a fresh tournament, a new start. And that is something you know we always talk about when you start fresh. You need to start fresh and not think about what has really happened in the past. That's how teams move forward and we are no different. We also want to move in the same direction,” he said.

Rohit said that playing against Pakistan first up will be a big challenge.

“It'll be challenging to play against Pakistan without a doubt. But, for us, what is important is what we are thinking as a group and what we want to achieve from this tournament. And taking one game at a time and all those kinds of things will play a huge role. So we will focus on that rather than thinking about the opposition. For us, it is important we are here for a purpose. And we want to achieve something from this tournament and we will be focusing on that. Everyone's quite excited to be here. And they want to start the tournament on high. Everyone's looking forward to it,” said Rohit.

The Asia Cup acts as the ideal tune-up for the T20 World Cup to be held in Australia in October and November and India have been experimenting with their massive talent pool of players.

Rohit said it would be the same during the Asia Cup with every one of the 15 players in the mix.

“I'd say 15 are here, and whichever 15, they're all pretty much in the mix. That's why they're here because they've produced results. They have performed wherever, whenever they've gotten an opportunity. So everyone stands a chance to represent the country,” he said.

“We are not somebody who will close doors on individuals, and we don't want to do that. We want to see how individuals respond to certain situations that has been put by the team management to them, and we will see how they respond to that.

So far, whatever we were expecting from the individuals, I think they have responded pretty well. So going forward, it's a big headache for us, leaving out certain players from the squad from the playing XI is not easy.

"But as far as the team goes, we got to get the best combination and best playing XI. So whatever it takes for us to do that, we will do everything we can to get the best possible level all the time,” Rohit added.


More news from