India playing differently since the last time we played against Pakistan: Rohit Sharma ahead of Asia Cup clash

Indian cricket team skipper Rohit Sharma said the team's approach in T20 cricket has changed from the time they last locked horns with Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2021 last year. India had lost against their arch-rivals at the showpiece event to suffer their first defeat against the Men in Green in a World Cup encounter.

India had never lost a World Cup match against Pakistan before the meeting between the two sides in the UAE last year. India had won all 12 encounters between the two teams in ODI and T20 World Cups. However, Pakistan brought an end to their losing streak with an emphatic ten-wicket win in Dubai last year.

Pakistan produced an excellent effort with the ball to restrict India to a moderate total of 151 runs before captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan combined to chase down the target with ten wickets to spare. The duo slammed half-centuries apiece to take Pakistan home comfortably and secure the country's first win against the Men in Blue in a World Cup game.

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Ahead of the meeting between the two sides in the upcoming Asia Cup 2022 in the UAE, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma expressed confidence in his team's chances citing the change in their approach.

"Asia Cup is happening after a long time, but we played Pakistan last year in Dubai, where obviously the result did not go our way. But the Asia Cup is different now. The team is playing differently and has prepared differently, so a lot of things have changed from then," said Rohit during a promotional event.

Much has changed for India since their defeat against Pakistan last year. India had failed to qualify for the knockout stage of the T20 World Cup 2021 following which Virat Kohli stepped down as captain to hand over reignto Rohit. Former head coach Ravi Shastri has also been replaced by the legendary Rahul Dravid at the helm.

Under Rohit's captaincy, India have been phenomenal so far in T20Is and are yet to lose a T20I series having won seven on the trot. The team has also adapted an agressive approach in their batting while the bowling line-up has also undergone some notable changes.

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Explaining his strategy for the Asia Cup 2022, Rohit said India won't focus on a single opposition but will be aiming to go the distance as a team. Rohit had led India to a memorable triumph during the last edition of the tournament in 2018 and will be hoping to repeat the feat this year.

"My thought has always been that we will not focus on the opponent, but we will continue to play our game. We played against West Indies, England and in both cases, we did not think about who our opposition was, but we focused on things that we had to do as a team and what we had to achieve," said Rohit.

"Similarly, in the Asia Cup, our focus will be on what to achieve as a team and not think about who we are facing - be it Pakistan, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka," he added.

"But for us, we need to assess the conditions, keep in mind the fact that we will be playing in 40-plus degrees. We need to assess all those factors and prepare accordingly," he added.