Team India skipper Rohit Sharma provided valuable insights into the challenges faced by batters in England conditions ahead of the World Test Championship final against Australia, which is all set to take place from June 7 to June 11 at The Oval in London. He expressed that players have to grind hard to achieve success in challenging conditions.
The Indian team kicked off its preparations last week for the final. They practised at the Arundel Castle Cricket Club in Sussex, before heading to London. Ahead of the mega-clash, both the skippers Rohit Sharma and Pat Cummins attended an ICC event ‘Afternoon With Test Legends”. The Indian skipper shared insights into batting challenges in England. He said,
“Look, I think, in England in general, it’s pretty challenging conditions for batters. As long as you are prepared to have a good grind, you can have success.”
“One thing I realised in 2021, is you are never in (set) and the weather keeps changing. You need to keep concentrating for longer periods of time and you will get that intuition when it’s time to take on the bowlers. More importantly, you need to be out there and you have got to understand what your strengths are,” he added.
Would be nice to know the scoring pattern at The Oval: Rohit Sharma
Team India skipper Rohit Sharma further expressed that knowing the scoring pattern of former players, who have had success at the Oval, won’t be a bad idea. However, he added that he will not be trying to emulate them. Rohit Sharma stated,
“I am not going to try and emulate them (successful players) but it would be a bit nice to know their pattern of scoring. What I have found out at Oval is that the square boundaries are pretty quick.”
The veteran cricketer also talked about switching formats, as most of the players in the final are coming on the back of a two-month-long Indian Premier League season. He said,
“That (change of formats) certainly has been the challenging factor. You know you play multi-format. Mentally you have to be very adaptable and tweak your technique. You need to be talking to yourself and get mentally ready.”
“A lot of our younger guys haven’t done that. A lot of us are doing it for many years and bringing out the best performances,” he added.
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