“We have still not finalised squad for T20 World Cup”: Rohit Sharma

New Delhi [India], January 19 (ANI): India skipper Rohit Sharma confirmed on Thursday that they still haven’t finalised the squad for the upcoming 2024 T20 World Cup.

Speaking to JioCinema, Rohit said he has a few players on his mind who are going to feature in the tournament.

“We have still not finalised the squad for the T20 World Cup, but obviously in the mind you know the 8-10 players who are going to play. Then you decide on the combination after looking at the conditions of the place you will be travelling to. In the West Indies, the conditions are quite slow, so we have to pick the squad accordingly. Again I say, Rahul bhai and I have tried to maintain clarity in the team. The one thing I have learnt from captaincy is that you can’t keep everyone happy. You have to focus on the needs of the team,” Rohit said.

The 36-year-old said he discussed ideas with head coach Rahul Dravid before the start of the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan since he had not played 20-over games for almost one year.

The skipper revealed that he used to watch T20I matches even when he was not playing, so he “got an understanding of a few things”.

“We had a lot of discussions before the series. I had not played for one year, so I discussed ideas with Rahul bhai (Dravid). Although I was watching the games, I was not playing. I got an understanding of a few things, so we wanted to implement them and also do something different,” he added.

He added that the team management wanted their bowling attack to be used in a different way.

“We wanted our bowlers to bowl in a different way, someone wasn’t comfortable bowling in the power play, so we had to use them there. Some were not comfortable bowling at the death, we asked them to bowl there,” he added.

When asked about leading a young squad in the series against the Afghans, he said that it was challenging at one point but they are trying a lot of players currently.

“It becomes challenging to a large extent because you are trying out a lot of players. Like when we were playing the ODI World Cup, we tried out many boys in T20s. They perform but when the main squad is announced, some boys have to be left out. So, it is disappointing for them. But our job is to bring clarity to the team. It shouldn’t be that we want to do something and something else is happening. So, in the pool of 25-30 players we have, they know what is expected of each player,” the skipper added.

Rohit featured in a T20I game after spending more than a year away from the format in the recently concluded series against Afghanistan. With two ducks to his name in the first two games, Rohit went on to score a record-breaking 121* off 69 deliveries. Afghanistan managed to draw the game and force the clash to super over. The first super over ended on level terms, but in the second Rohit’s fireworks and Bishnoi’s composure saw the hosts clinch the series by 3-0.