You must have seen the film Chak De India. Before the final, coach Kabir Khan i.e. Shahrukh Khan talks with the players. In that conversation, he says many things which ‘motivate’ the players. More than one and a half decade has passed since that film was released. But even now, if the Indian team is going to play a big match in any sport, that film is definitely mentioned. Those dialogues of Shahrukh Khan are definitely mentioned. Every child remembers the dialogue ‘Those seventy minutes’. Well, let us now come to the real world of sports. In the world of real sports, at present India’s fight against New Zealand in the World Cup is not a final but it is definitely a knock-out one. That means if you lose, you will return empty handed. After 9 consecutive wins, one mistake will dash the hopes of Team India’s fans.
On Wednesday, the Indian team will face New Zealand in the semi-final match at the historic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. In 2011, the Indian team won the World Cup by defeating Sri Lanka in the same Wankhede Stadium. This time Wankhede ground can take the Indian team closer to the World Cup. But don’t forget that this time we are facing New Zealand, who had broken India’s dream in the semi-finals in 2019.
What will Rohit say to the players before the semi-finals?
There is only one question in the minds of cricket fans at this time – what will Rohit Sharma say to the players as captain? Now let us try to ‘decode’ this curiosity. Usually the captain has some issues to explain to the players. But the real problem is that Rohit Sharma does not have the scope to say anything to any player. The Indian team has covered the journey so far in the World Cup while remaining unbeatable. A new player shines in every victory. The Indian team has won matches by batting first. The Indian team has won matches by bowling first. The margin of victory of the Indian team has ranged from 300 runs to 8 wickets.
The Indian team won the match after the failure of the top order. The Indian team has bowled out teams like Sri Lanka and South Africa within 100 runs. The Indian team has added a score of more than 400 runs on the score board. After this, what will the captain say to his players, except that they do not have to do anything new but maintain the same ‘mindset’ with which they have been playing till now. Maintain the ‘positivity’ that he has shown so far in the tournament.
No player has given a chance to say anything
No player of Team India has given Rohit Sharma a chance to say anything. Understand in terms of statistics. In this tournament, Virat Kohli has scored 594 runs at an average of 99. Virat Kohli has batted responsibly in a match where the pair of opening batsmen gets broken early. Shreyas Iyer has scored 421 runs at an average of more than 70. KL Rahul’s average is around 70. He has 347 runs in his account. KL Rahul is also in the role of wicketkeeper in this World Cup. The interesting thing is that even in this role he has not given any chance to the captain. Before the World Cup, there was a fear that if he missed a catch or a stumping in a stuck match, it would prove costly. But the reality is that KL Rahul has done excellent wicketkeeping. He has also taken some catches on the left side of the wicket which have been amazing. Rohit himself cannot give himself any new ‘target’. He himself has scored 503 runs at an average of 55.
Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja have also done their work well. Talking about bowlers, Mohammed Shami has taken 16 wickets with an economy of 4.78. Jasprit Bumrah has taken 17 wickets with an economy of 3.65. Ravindra Jadeja has taken 16 wickets with an economy of 3.97. Kuldeep Yadav has taken 14 wickets with an economy of 4.15. Mohammad Siraj’s economy is 5.20 and he has 12 wickets in his account. Now what more would you expect from the bowlers of any team in the world. This performance of the bowlers is incredible. That means even the bowlers have not given Rohit Sharma a chance to say anything.
Will we talk about the defeat of 2019 or the victory of 2023?
There is also a question in the minds of the fans that will Rohit Sharma talk to the players about the defeat against New Zealand in 2019? There is a very simple logic behind this that why do they need to talk about 2019? In this World Cup, India has defeated New Zealand by 4 wickets. India won that match on a ground which was considered more suitable for New Zealand. In Dharamsala, New Zealand had given India a target of 274 runs, which the Indian team achieved by losing 6 wickets.
The simple thing is that Rohit Sharma has to tell his players only that they should not think of doing anything new, they should not think of doing any experiment, they should just keep doing what they have been doing till now in this World Cup. . The difference between 2019 and 2023 is very simple. Players understand this difference more than us. They know that there is a world of difference between the Manchester ground and the Wankhede ground. Especially the nature of the pitch and the presence of the home crowd. Now is the time to do, not say.
