Barbados: India captain Rohit Sharma expressed his excitement and optimism as the team geared up for the Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup 2024. Rohit emphasised the team's collective ambition to make a significant impact in the tournament.
India, having cruised through the group stage unbeaten, secured victories against Ireland, Pakistan, and the USA. Their final group-stage match against Canada was abandoned due to rain, leaving them at the top of Group A with an unblemished record.
The Indian team arrived in Barbados days ahead of their Super Eight opener to acclimate and focus on their preparations.
In a video released by the BCCI, Rohit highlighted the team's eagerness to excel. "There is real keenness in the group to go and do something special. It clearly shows that everyone wants to make a difference and we take our skill sessions quite seriously. There is something to achieve in every skill session that you do."
Acknowledging the challenges of the upcoming schedule, the Indian skipper noted the team’s readiness to tackle the demands of the Super 8 stage. "Once we play the first game, we are going to play the next two in 3-4 days. It is going to be a little hectic but we are used to all of this. We travel and play a lot so that is not going to be an excuse."
Speaking on the importance of focusing on their skills and strategies, especially given their familiarity with the local conditions, Rohit said, "We will look to focus on our skill and what we need to do as a team. We have played a lot of games here. Everyone understands what they need to do. Everyone is looking forward to it and are excited at the same time."
India's Super Eight campaign kicked off on June 20 with a match against Afghanistan at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados. This will be followed by a clash against Bangladesh in Antigua two days later, and they will conclude the Super 8 stage with a match against Australia in St Lucia on June 24.
Confident India to kick off Super 8 on highBridgetown: After going unbeaten in the Group A matches of the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup in the USA, despite the pitches in New York being tough for batting, a confident Team India was eager to kick off its Super Eights campaign in the Caribbean on a high. A change in conditions will also mean a change in combination for India, who have four spinners in their World Cup squad. With conditions being friendly for fast bowlers in New York, it meant someone like Kuldeep Yadav didn’t get a look into the playing eleven in Group A games. The last match of the World Cup at Barbados saw Australia make 201, and restrict England to 165/6. It’s an encouraging statistic for India, who were far from fluent and found it hard to even touch 120 at New York, and this would boost their batters to play their big shots with absolute conviction. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli can bat freely in the power-play, and if the need arises to be ultra-attacking, they can take that route provided left-arm fast-bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi, the leading wicket-taker of the tournament, doesn’t get the ball to move both ways. Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya can be hard-hitting to emerge as match-winners in their own right whenever situations demand them to be. |
