Bumrah, Shami won’t be with Team India forever: Rohit on bench strength

The 2022 T20 World Cup is a new challenge for Rohit Sharma and the men in blue. Team India has not won an ICC event since the 2013 Champions Trophy under captain MS Dhoni. Nearly a decade has passed since that memorable night in England. After that, India reached the semifinals of the 2015 and 2019 ICC One Day World Cups and the semifinal of the 2016 T20 World Cup and the final of the 2014 edition. But a title was far away from their reach.

Rohit Sharma and his men are eager to wipe off the disappointment of missing the trophy after entering the tournament as the favourites. Several new talents such as Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Harshal Patel and Avesh Khan have got opportunities in the bowling department in T20 format. Talking about experimenting, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma said that creating a good bench strength is a major priority for the management.

“Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and all these guys will not be with the Indian team forever. So you have to try to prepare the other guys. I and Rahul Dravid Bhai spoke about how we are going to create our bench strength because that’s going to be very crucial considering the amount of cricket we play, considering the injury factors and everything,” Sharma said.

‘More opportunities’

The Indian skipper also added that the team wants to give as many opportunities to youngsters as possible. “We never want to be a team that relies on one or two individuals but a team where everyone can contribute and help the team win on their own. We want to be that kind of team and that’s why we want to give the youngsters as many opportunities as possible and, of course, you have got senior players around them. They can be of wonderful help.”

“The guys are getting exposure and our aim is to create bench strength, so that’s why in Zimbabwe, there are a lot of players who are touring for the first time – be it Shahbaz Ahmed, Rahul Tripathi – and it is good exposure. They are really talented and will grab the opportunity. It’s about getting the confidence at this stage, which I am sure they will learn. Playing for the country matters the most,” Sharma said.