'Crucial that we don't worry...': Rohit Sharma on India's mouth-watering clash vs Pakistan in CWC '23

In match 9 of the ODI World Cup 2023, Rohit Sharma-led India demolished Afghanistan by eight wickets in pursuit of 273 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi on Wednesday (Oct 11). Being asked to bowl first, Afghanistan did well to post 272 for 8, riding on captainHashmatullah Shahidi (80) andAzmatullah Omarzai (62) but fell flat with the ball asskipper Rohit (131) and Virat Kohli (55 not out) propelled India to a stunning eight-wicket win in 35 overs.

Thus, with two wins in a row, India will now shift their focus on playing arch-rivals Pakistan in match 12 of the ongoing marquee event. After the win against Afghanistan, Rohit opened up on facing Pakistan and said that it is important for his side to not worry about the 'external factors'.

At the post-match presentation, Rohit said, "(It) was a good win for us, very important to get that momentum at the start of the tournament."

On the Pakistan face-off, he stated, "For us, it is crucial that we don't worry about external factors and just look at things we can control. We just need to show up and do well."

"Things like what the pitch is like, what combo we can play is what we can control. What happens outside we won't be worried about it. It is just about focusing on what we can do as players and how we can perform," the India captain further opined.

Rohit spoke at length on Team India and said, "We have got guys who can play fearless cricket with bat and guys who can absorb like the last game. It is about absorbing pressure and making the right decision on the field. There will be a spell from the opposition where you will have to absorb pressure. Leading up to the tournament, we had played such games. "We have got players with different skill sets in our team. They bring different attributes of the game to the team and it puts you in good positions as a team when you have that," he added.

Both India and Pakistan are coming into the marquee face-off after starting their campaigns with two back-to-back wins. Will India maintain their unbeaten ODI World Cup streak over the Babar Azam-led Men in Green? Only time will tell...

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