India’s Captain Rohit Sharma has dismissed concerns that his team is enjoying an unfair advantage in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy, playing all their matches in Dubai. Speaking in the pre-match press conference ahead of the semifinal against Australia, Rohit emphasized that the pitches in Dubai have presented different challenges for his team, contradicting the notion that India is getting preferential treatment.
“I think every time the pitch is giving us different challenges,” Rohit said. “The three matches we played here, the pitch has behaved differently. This is not our home, this is Dubai. We don’t play so many matches here, and this is new for us too.”
Rohit highlighted the importance of quick adaptability, noting that India will have to adjust to the surface regardless of which pitch is selected for the knockout clash. “There are four or five surfaces that are being used here. I don’t know which pitch is going to be played in the semifinals. But whatever happens, we will have to adapt and see what is happening and what is not. And we will play on that.”
The Indian skipper pointed out that the pitch for the match against New Zealand, their final Group A game, offered something for both pacers and spinners. “We saw that when the New Zealand bowlers were bowling, it was swinging a little bit. We did not see it in the first two games when our bowlers were bowling. In the last game, we did not get to see that much spin, today there was a bit of it. So, there are different things happening on every surface.”
India’s decision to include five spinners in their squad was made after monitoring the conditions during the ILT20 tournament in Dubai earlier this year. “Looking at the surface here, hearing about what has happened in Dubai in the past two months, we kind of knew that surfaces are going to be slow. We were watching ILT20 which was played here and we thought the slower bowlers will be a lot more helpful here,” Rohit said.
Having arrived in Dubai five or six days before the tournament, the Indian team was able to adapt to the conditions, training at the ICC Academy. “It was important for us to adapt quickly to these conditions. Luckily, we came here five or six days before, we had good training sessions, and the pitches at the Academy were very much similar to what we are going to get here. The adaptation is the key when you play on any surface, and we adapted pretty well in all three games,” Rohit added.
Rohit also played down the weight of expectations on his team, insisting that the pressure to win will be equally distributed between both teams. “It’s a semifinal, and all four teams are looking to win. I don’t think we have to put more pressure on ourselves than the other teams. We have to go and play our game, and the result will take care of itself,” he concluded.
India’s Captain Rohit Sharma is confident that his team will be well-prepared for the challenges ahead, having already demonstrated their adaptability in all three of their matches so far. With five spinners in their squad and a deep understanding of the Dubai surfaces, India will look to take on Australia in the semifinal on Tuesday with a strong lineup and a clear game plan, ready to overcome any challenges that may come their way.
Original Source: https://theshillongtimes.com/2025/03/04/rohit-dismisses-advantage-claims-ahead-of-semi-final/
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Publish Date: 2025-03-04 03:58:00
