NEW YORK: This is getting slightly repetitive, but the pitch talk just doesn’t go away. The ICC had said that they would try to do something about the pitch for the India-Pakistan game, but the first innings of the South Africa-Netherlands game didn’t give anybody any sense of confidence.Netherlands managed 103 and when Rohit was meeting the press ahead of the Pakistan game, South Africa had been reduced to 3-3.
It’s the same pitch that is likely to be used for the Sunday bash and the Pakistani contingent, who only had one practice session in New York before the game, is obviously worried.
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When a Pakistan journalist asked India captain Rohit Sharma how much of an advantage India would have going into this game, the India captain gave a cheeky reply: “This is not our home either, yes we have played a couple of games here, but a few of our training sessions have been washed out too…and about the pitch, well even the curator doesn’t know how the pitch will behave.”
The teams from the subcontinent are not used to the idea of drop-in pitches and the skipper said the curator, who is an Aussie, is still trying to figure out “how much grass to take out”.
“I think both the teams will have similar opportunities and whoever plays better will win,” Rohit added.
The Pakistan team’s loss in the first game to United States also came up for discussion, but the captain doesn’t feel that it will make them a less dangerous opposition.
“This is a format where anything can happen anywhere. In the last T20 World Cup, they lost to Zimbabwe and then went on to play the final. Here, you cannot think much about the opposition, because form doesn’t take too long to come and go,” Rohit said.
The Indian skipper has been hurt a few times during this World Cup, once during the game against Ireland and once in practice on Friday. But the captain insisted that those who want to play for India, have to deal with such blows. “It’s tough, but as far as I am concerned, blows don’t count for anything. You have to cross those hurdles,” Rohit said.
The skipper evoked memories of Gabba while trying to elaborate on the point: “If you remember the Gabba Test (in January 2020), we won it because of mental toughness. These are the moments where you test yourself, all players who want to make a name for himself have to thrive in these moments,” the skipper said.
