The Indian Cricket team seems to have ticked many boxes before the ICC World Cup 2023 at home. The Men in Blue clinched the Asia Cup 2023 with a thumping win over Sri Lanka in the final before going on to hammer Australia in a home ODI series. With returning players showing strong performances, the Indian team looked red-hot in the recent ODIs.
India captain Rohit Sharma was full of praise for his team heading into the World Cup and also shared the mantra to bag an ICC championship. "I'm pretty happy, of course, I would like to go all the way along but if I'm hitting like that I'm happy. In the last 7-8 ODIs we have played really well, we have been challenged under different conditions and different teams, and I thought we responded to that challenge pretty well. Unfortunately, not the result we wanted today," Rohit said after the completion of the IND vs AUS ODI series.
The skipper backed Bumrah despite the speedster going for runs on a rare occasion. He also revealed that the BCCI think tank is clear with the 15-player squad for the World Cup. "I'm pretty happy, more importantly how he feels body-wise, he has got so much skill, one bad game can happen to anyone. How he feels mentally and body-wise is key for us and that's looking good for us. When we talk about the 15 we are very clear about what we want. We are not confused, we know where we are headed as a team," he added.
"It's a team sport and we want everyone to come and play their part - that's how we win championships. It's about looking after the body and try and stay fresh for the next one and half months," Rohit said on his mantra for winning the ICC championships.
Meanwhile, Rahul Dravid also opened up on the selection dilemma stating that there are no changes as of now. "We have to wait for an official confirmation or a decision on that. The NCA is in touch with the selectors and Ajit (Agarkar) so I will not make any comments on that. If there is any change you will get to hear about it officially, as of now there are no changes," Dravid said after India's loss to Australia in the third ODI in Rajkot.
The Indian team saw the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Jasprit Bumrah and KL Rahul making a return to the squad after injury breaks. Dravid is pleased with the squad and is looking forward to the warm-ups. "For all those guys game-time was important. The fact that they have been able to get that is I think something that we are much better off for it," the coach added.
