Rohit Sharma says ‘Pakistan team playing well as a unit’

• Indian captain Rohit Sharma expressed his respect for Pakistan and acknowledged their improvements in recent years.
• He said that India will play their best and have prepared well for the match.
• He also discussed the need for India to use their experience and play a balanced game in order to defeat Pakistan.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma conducted a press conference ahead of their match against Pakistan scheduled for September 2nd at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy, Sri Lanka.

During the press conference, the 36-year-old Sharma expressed his deep respect for their arch-rivals and acknowledged the significant improvements that the Pakistan cricket team has made over the years.

“Pakistan’s team is very good, they have improved very well in the past few years, whether it is T20I or 50 overs,” Sharma said.

“No team becomes number without any reason, they have worked hard and they are playing well as a unit, it will be interesting to play them.

“We will play our best, we have prepared well, let’s see how it goes.”

“Look, we don’t have Shaheen, Naseem, or Haris in the nets, we practice with our own bowlers.

“They [Pakistani trio] are all quality bowlers, there is no doubt about that. Pakistan have always had quality bowlers.

“We have seen where they ball, what lengths they use, we will just try to tackle them with our experience.”

“We need to use our experience, I’ll have to see what kind of cricket our team needs. In the last two years, I have played in a different way, more like risky cricket, but I need to change my approach. As a top-order batter, I know how important it is for me to play a long inning and I need to bring balance to my game.

“We have short-term goals, as of now all we are focusing on is the game against Pakistan.”

In the context of the Asia Cup (ODI) matches, India has had the advantage over Pakistan, securing victory in seven out of the thirteen encounters. On the other hand, Pakistan has won five matches, while one ended without a result.

Furthermore, Pakistan’s recent record against India in the Asia Cup has not been favorable, as they have suffered four defeats in their last five meetings. Their most recent triumph against India took place in Mirpur back in 2014, during which Shahid Afridi played a pivotal role by hitting two consecutive sixes against Ravichandran Ashwin in the final over to lead Pakistan to victory.

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