No time for experimentation, looking forward to giving game time to World Cup probables – Rohit Sharma

With the IPL auction done and dusted, India’s captain Rohit Sharma has urged his players to shift their focus on ‘Blue’ for the upcoming T20I series against the West Indies.

Rohit feels experiment is an overrated word in his dictionary and he is looking forward to giving game time to the World Cup probables.

India had last won a major ICC trophy back in 2013 and one of the biggest goals in Rohit’s limited-overs captaincy tenure is to take his team to a big title. Team India could not even make it past the Super 12 stage in the 2021 T20 World Cup and Rohit’s aim will be to take the team all the way in the 2022 T20 World Cup later in the year.

“I feel the word experimentation is over-rated, in my terms,” he said ahead of Wednesday’s first T20I. “We are trying to find those holes that are there in the squad and try and fill that gap. So whatever it takes, we will try and do that.

“All these guys [the fringe players] are very young and haven’t played a lot of cricket. We need to give them the assurity and the game time. Once we have that, then we can try out things. Till then, whatever little holes we have in our squad, we have to try and fill that.”

Rohit added that the idea is to give opportunities to the players who are on their radar for the 2022 T20 World Cup.

“The idea is to identify the players who are going to play the World Cup and give them the game time,” Rohit said. “There are a lot of players who are injured and not with the team. Come the World Cup, I don’t know who’s going to be fit and who’s not going to be fit, but we’ve just got to get the back-ups ready. We have a packed schedule and injuries will happen. It’s important we give players enough game time keeping everything in mind.”

Meanwhile, Kuldeep Yadav has been added to the T20I squad after Washington Sundar was ruled out due to injury. This means he will reunite with his former partner in crime – Yuzvendra Chahal. Sharma has already indicated that he wants to bring back the pair in the limited-overs set-up and they are part of his plans.

“These two guys have been a great asset in the past for us and will continue to be,” Rohit said of Kuldeep and Chahal. “Things should start falling in place for them and it starts with us giving them the confidence. Giving them the support and the backing from the team.

The first T20I will be played at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Wednesday.