A vexed Rohit Sharma came up with a blunt response during the pre-match press conference ahead of the first ODI against the West Indies when he was questioned regarding the lack of big centuries from the team's premier batter Virat Kohli and mentioned that "it's all outside talk" and doesn't concern the team environment.
The Kensington Oval in Bridgetown will play host to the first ODI between the Windies and the visitors India. More than anything else the three-match ODI series is an invaluable opportunity for the India players to be at the top of their game as there are just a handful of opportunities left before the ODI World Cup gets underway in India from October 5 onwards.
Up against a unit like the West Indies that recently hit a new low after it failed to qualify for the marquee 50-overs tournament for the first time in their history, there lies an opportunity for some of the Indian batters to get amongst the runs and one of those happens to be the former skipper Virat.
Virat, 34, has batted exceedingly well in the nine ODIs that he has played in the ongoing calendar year thus far but the flamboyant right-hander is yet to play a game outside of the home conditions in the 50-overs circuit. Hence there are questions being asked as to how effective he can be away from the comfort of his home conditions.
Virat recently put an end to a longstanding five-year Test century drought away from home when he took the Windies bowlers to the task and racked up a ton which unfortunately from his perspective ended in a draw. Having displayed phenomenal consistency in his illustrious career already, there are expectations from Virat to dominate the opposition with ease, and with the ODI World Cup around the corner, those expectations are on an all-time high.
During the pre-match presser ahead of the first ODI at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rohit was asked a similar query on Virat's form and it triggered a blunt response from the India skipper, who seemed annoyed having to respond to the same query at regular intervals after taking up the mantle of captaincy.
"I've answered this question a lot of times. All the outside talk, who scored how many, took how many wickets. People who say such things don't know what happens inside," Rohit said during the pre-match press conference.
"For us, what happens inside stays inside. We prefer that. For us, the most important thing is to win matches or series, not who's talking what. It doesn't matter to us," he added.
Rohit asserted that the team is focused on winning the three-match ODI series against the Shai Hope-led side and carrying the winning momentum forward in the forthcoming series leading into the World Cup.
"Our priority is the three ODI matches right now, we're focussing on that. Inside talks remain inside and we want it to stay inside only.
This is something that I have said a number of times and in future as well I will say this only," he added.
