India captain Rohit Sharma has admitted that the World Cup semifinal against New Zealand to be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday (November 15) will be a "pressure" game. Rohit mentioned that pressure always runs high in a tournament like the ODI World Cup regardless of whether a team is playing in a league match or a knockout tie like a semifinal.
"Be it a league match or semifinal, the pressure is always there in a World Cup match. We have handled it well from the first game to the last. The team has responded well.
"We are focusing on playing good cricket in the next two games. Pressure is always there on us as Indian cricketers. The need is to focus on the game and not on the pressure and challenges from the other side," Rohit told in the pre-match press conference ahead of the semifinal clash.
The Indian team has been flawless in the ongoing tournament thus far and is on a nine-match winning streak. The 36-year-old batter mentioned that they won't look to do anything different than what has been working for them and wants fortune to favour them.
"I don't think we need to do anything different than what we have been doing. Time has come for luck to favour you and fortune favours the brave," Rohit added.
The Nagpur-born also lauded New Zealand's consistency at ICC events and described them as "probably the most disciplined team" going around.
New Zealand (are) probably (the) most disciplined team. They play smart cricket, they understand the opposition very well. They understand the mentality of the opposition. They have been very consistent playing semis and finals of all ICC tournaments," Rohit said.
India's World Cup squad:
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishan Kishan, Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin
