WI vs IND 2022 | Losing in the World T20 doesn't mean we played bad cricket, asserts Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma and co. have landed in the Caribbean islands as they prepare to take on the West Indies in a five-match T20I series beginning on Friday at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.  A host of senior players such as Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin and the skipper himself arrived during the closing stages of the ODI series having taken a brief rest from the 50-over format. The 18-member squad will be keen to be at their best in what will be the team's last bilateral T20 affair ahead of the World T20 in Australia beginning in October.

The Men in Blue are expected to perform better in this edition of the marquee event, having bounced out of the previous edition in the Super 12 stage itself. Even though they win three of their five games, big losses to Pakistan and New Zealand in the first two encounters meant the deficit was too big to claw back. The showing was especially disappointing given India had won all their warm-up matches and were in exceptional form ahead of the tournament. Speaking to the press ahead of the series opener against the West Indies, skipper Rohit Sharma insisted that people should not read too much into a couple of unfortunate losses.     

"We haven't gotten the result in the World Cup, that does not mean we were playing bad cricket. And I do not agree that we were playing conservative cricket, if you lose 1-2 matches in the World Cup, it seems like we did not take the chances. If you look at the games we have played before the World Cup, we won 80 per cent of those. I do not understand how can you win these many matches if you are conservative," Rohit was reported saying in the pre-match press conference by NDTV.

"We lost the World Cup, but it can happen, but that does not happen we were not playing freely. Lately, it is not like we have completely changed something, we have just given players the freedom to express themselves. If you play freely, performances will come out. The people on the outside should maintain peace, the way we are playing cricket, there will be failures and the results might not go our way, but it is okay as we are trying something. It can happen that mistakes take place but that does not mean that the players are bad. With time, everyone has to change, we are changing, so people on the outside also need to change."

Presently, the Indian squad for the World T20 has several questions to answer with an influx of talent following the end of the Indian Premier League's latest addition. For instance, Virat Kohli is taking a rest from the ongoing T20I series as well and with Deepak Hooda making waves in the national team, there are calls for him to replace the former skipper. Rohit stated the squad for the marquee event has not been finalized yet but the selectors and management have planned out their strategies to make sure all required players are in the best possible shape for the tournament. 

"There are some spots that we need to fill, but we also know what we need to do to fill them. We will try to address all the issues in the coming matches, we want to give guys the freedom. We can talk about preparation and technique, but the players should be left alone when the match comes, we just want them to play like they do when playing for franchises or state teams. Our job is to eliminate the pressure, we are just trying to create an environment where guys can play freely."

"The composition is good, we have got a good mix of players who can cover all facets of the game. There are a few guys who have been rested also keeping in mind the workload and all of that. We also need to make sure that everyone is fresh, come the World Cup, we don't want to be having any injuries or niggles, we are trying to manage as much as possible with all the players. So yeah, I think it is important that guys here get an opportunity to play against West Indies. We look forward to that challenge," he added.