Come ODI World Cup, he will up the ante: Shastri reposes faith on captain Rohit Sharma ahead of mega event

Former India head player and coach Ravi Shastri has backed 'seasoned captain' Rohit Sharma ahead of the two-time winners' campaign in the much-awaited ICC ODI World Cup 2023 edition. The mega event will be entirely hosted by India in October-November, with defending champions England taking on New Zealand in the tournament opener on October 05. Team India will open their campaign versus five-time winners Australia in Chennai on October 08. They will face arch-rivals Pakistan on October 14 in Ahmedabad.

'Come CWC 2023, Rohit will up the ante'

Shastri said while speaking on Star Sports, “I think he is a seasoned captain. Come the World Cup, he will up the ante. Bilaterals are one thing. When it comes to big tournaments, you switch on in a different manner. He knows the nucleus of the players. It is about him ensuring that everyone in that batting lineup knows that they don't own batting positions."

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"You've got to be flexible with your batting ladder. No matter who the name of the player is. You do not own positions. You got to have flexibility. That is paramount, and use the right guys against the right oppositions,” Shastri further asserted.

Under Rohit, India will start as one of the favourites for the coveted title despite their mixed run across formats in recent times. Rohit-led India fell flat in Asia Cup 2022 (held in T20I format), bowed out of the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in Australia, lost ODIs to Bangladesh (in the Bangla Tigers' den), 50-over home series to the Aussies and also came second in the WTC final (losing to Pat Cummins & Co.). India, under Hardik Pandya, also conceded their first-ever T20I series when they recently lost to West Indies.

Also Read: India would've been 100 per cent prepared for CWC '23 had Kohli remained captain, feels ex-Pak captain

In addition, the former head coach believes that the India think tank has a group of 18-20 players that have been shortlisted for the home ODI WC. "The think tank would have thought about a group of 18 or 20 players at least four or five months before the World Cup and then given opportunities to each one of them, kept an eye on the injuries too, you know, whichever players who were part of the mix who got injuries and just come back, and then pick the right guys,” Shastri added.

India will look to end their ICC title drought since 2013 when they turn up for the 50-over showpiece event at home. Thus, Rohit has a litmus test to lead India to the mega title after a long time.

At present, Jasprit Bumrah is set to lead a second-stringed Indian team in Dublin, Ireland for a three-match T20I series which kicks off on Friday (August 18). It will mark Bumrah's international return since September 2022.

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