Sydney, Jan 10 (UNI) India opening batsman Rohit Sharma on Thursday heaped praises on his former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni ahead of the three-match One Day International series against Australia, starting from Saturday.
Sharma said that former skipper brings calmness to the team.
Talking to media persons here he said, “Over the years we have seen the kind of presence he has in dressing room and on field. With him being around, there’s calmness around the group, it’s also a bit of a help to the captain, also going down the batting order and that finishing touch is very important.”
“He has finished so many games for us, that role he plays is very important in terms of his batting. His calmness, his advice is very important. So, things he does brings a lot on the table for us and his presence around the group is a massive factor for us,” Rohit added.
During the presser, Sharma also talked about the upcoming ICC World Cup, which is scheduled to begin from May this year in England, The opener said that nobody is guaranteed to the team for the biggest carnival of the game.
“Nobody is guaranteed to that flight to England as yet. We’ve to be in prime form. Each and every player who will be taking part in the World Cup, all of us are aware of that, we need to keep performing and make sure that comes the World cup, we’re ready for it. But more or less you will see the same squad playing the World Cup.”
“There’ll be one or two changes keeping in mind form and injury concerns over next few months. But I don’t see any drastic change in the squad, ” the right-handed batsman added.
Talking about the ODI series, he said that those three bowlers -Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc- who were rested from the Australian squad, are their premier bowlers but they have got the guys who can do the job for them. Their bowling lineup can put us under pressure without a doubt.
“At present, the team is high on confidence, so, we got to carry this form into this ODI series and make sure that we manage to keep things right,” the batsman said.
On the eve of first ODI, Dhoni with other Indian cricketers opted for the indoor-training session due to rain.
On Wednesday, too, Dhoni with his few teammates attended India’s optional training session.
Rohit Sharma, who had flown back to Mumbai as the couple blessed with the baby girl, has returned to join the Indian camp ahead of the series opener.
Kedar Jadhav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Khaleel Ahmed have also joined the Indian team camp.
In the recently concluded Test series, India registered their first-ever series win Down Under in the format.