Indian captain Rohit Sharma played down the tag of ‘tournament favourites’ and said that in a game of T20 cricket there were no favourites.
“T20 is such a format that you will have to play good cricket any team can beat anyone. There are no favourites because it is such a short format the game can slip or change in a span of one or two overs,” said Sharma at a media conference held at Taj Samudra Hotel ahead of today’s Hero Nidahas trophy T20 tri-series that commences at the R Premadasa Stadium.
“I don’t like to be tagged as favourites because on any given day any team can beat anyone, you just have to be good on that particular day. T20 is like say the English Premier League soccer.”
The Indian team is sans several top players who have been rested after a hectic international schedule and comprises several youngsters who have performed exceptionally well in India’s domestic cricket.
“Since the 2015 World Cup we have put up a good performance at home and it gives confidence to the team. It is always important to know your bench strength with quality players sitting and waiting for opportunities. They have been consistently performing in whatever opportunity they have been getting in domestic cricket,” said Sharma.
“It is prime time to try all these cricketers and we also need to see what we are capable of. When you play ICC tournaments it is important to check and see the standards of these players during series of this nature and in bilateral series. You don’t want to be taken by surprise when the World Cup arises to see those players have not had enough exposure. This is the right time to give opportunities to these guys.”
Being given the task of captaining a side sans top players does not bother Sharma too much.
“I don’t feel that way I am quite happy wearing the hat and leading my country,” said Sharma. “With the amount of cricket we play we have to manage our players so there are times when you need to rest your top cricketers. It is an opportunity for others on the bench to perform and it also gives us the chance to test our bench strength.” Ever since Chandika Hathurusingha departed as head coach Bangladesh’s fortunes have dipped and they are still hunting for a proper replacement. For the present tournament former West Indies fast bowling great Courtney Walsh is standing in as interim coach. On top of it Bangladesh are also without the services of their outstandingly talented all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan who is nursing a finger injury.
“I have the greatest respect for Chandika Hathurusingha as coach. He was an asset to Bangladesh cricket. Losing Shakib is a big loss for us but at the same time it gives a good opportunity for other guys to make a statement for themselves. It depends on the individual how he gets about it given the opportunity,” said Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah.
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