This World Cup, Team India has been like that well-oiled machinery that has steam-rolled oppositions on their way to the ICC World Cup knockouts. From Australia in Chennai to the Netherlands in Bengaluru, every part of the machine has been right where the captain and coach wanted, and doing exactly what they were expected to.
It’s the clarity in roles for each individual and then the seamless execution that has played a major role in India’s dominating run and something that has been evident from the way individuals have approached different phases of the game during different stages of the tournament.
“The roles are pretty clear for each and every one of them and they exactly know what to go out there and do. And it makes it a little easier for the players as well to understand what is expected out of them and what role they need to perform,” says Rohit Sharma at a pre-match presser when asked whether this is the most dominant Indian side he has been part of.
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The captain downplayed the “most dominant” team talks but added that role clarity meant backing a certain player, asked to play a certain role, to the hilt. Even if there were failures along the way, both captain and coach stuck to the plan and allowed the players “freedom” to “express themselves”.
“We’ve backed certain players because we’ve given them a different role. And if they perform the role, well and good, but even if they don’t, which will not come off in every game, we have got to back that player and tell him that we stand by you. That is something that I believe in and I want to do it as much as I can from my side and also got to give credit to Rahul bhai as well you know to buy into that thought of not you know changing too much when the player doesn’t come off with that plans,” says Rohit.
The secret fashion show
So much role clarity has only improved the “mahaul” (read environment) of the side. Something which Mohammed Siraj extensively spoke on during the ICC mixed zone in Dharamsala.
And something that was felt during the team’s break in the hills after the win over New Zealand. The support staff went for a trek to Triund, cricketers had a much-needed downtime after non-stop travel and there was a fashion show too.
“We were in Dharamsala, we had a five- or six-day break there. We stayed in Dharamsala for two days. We did a lot of team activity there. We did a fashion show there, but no one knows about that. It’s a good thing that no one knows about it.
“So, all this effort, the environment of the team that we always talk about, this is the environment where we like to be very relaxed. And all the boys like this a lot. Because you know when you come on the ground, there will be pressure, pressure of performance, pressure of winning the match,” says Rohit.
READ: ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: How India Recorded 9 Consecutive Wins to Storm Into Semifinals
Current crop and sticking to the process
The word pressure came up a lot during the captain’s press conference. Less than a night away from the big semi-final against the opposition which spoilt India’s party in 2019, it was an expected word to come up.
India will be up against an opponent that turns into a different beast in the knockouts but Rohit feels the current crop of players, who largely focus on the present day, and were not even around for that game four years ago make sticking to the process a lot easier.
“Half of the guys were not even born when we won our first World Cup. And then when we won our second World Cup in 2011, half of the guys were not even playing the game. I mean, for us, this current crop of players, they’re very much into what is happening today, what can happen tomorrow. Those are the things they try and focus on. I don’t see them talking about how we won the last World Cup, or how we won our first World Cup. The focus is on how they can get better as a player, what they can bring to the team and what are the things they need to improve.
“So that’s the beauty of the crop of players we have at this point in time. The focus is always on the present. And that, I believe, is a very, very good thing. Going into a tournament like this, from game number one, the focus has always been on what we can achieve today. What you achieve today sets you up for what you can achieve tomorrow. So, I think the crop of players that we have is very much focused on that process,” says Rohit.
The Indian team has been near perfect in this World Cup and both coach and captain would now hope that the seamless execution continues for, as Shubman Gill wrote in his Instagram post, “The Second-Last dance”.
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