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Stillness. Ambience. Mentality. Gratitude.
Anticipation.
Before the big day versus Australia, during his
36-minute pre-final news conference in Ahmedabad, India skipper Rohit Sharma
frequently used these phrases. Although he didn’t say it out loud, he implied
that they aren’t burdened by the idea of playing under pressure, even though
winning will be good.
Seven weeks prior to India’s opening match of the
tournament in Chennai against Australia, he maintained this theory. On the eve
of one of his biggest games to date, he wasn’t going to stray from that train
of thought.
“That’s what I believe in,” Rohit said when
asked of his nonchalant quip at the very beginning of the World Cup. “We
just want to go out there, keep it nice and easy, and calm. I had said then,
‘Yeah it’ll be nice to win’. In the same tone, I want to say it again: it’ll be
nice to win, [and] we’ve worked really hard. But I don’t want to get too
excited and feel much pressure about it.”
Rohit also talked openly about how everyone in the
group naturally agreed with him and how accepting everyone has been of
expressing a range of emotions in the changing room.
“It’s not just me, I can sense that from every
other player in the changing room,” he said. “There’s laughter going
around; there are a few tense faces as well. I’m not going to hide it. But
that’s why this sport is so exciting – you see different kind of emotions. When
it’s game time, guys are well aware of what needs to be done. I don’t need to
specifically tell them things like, ‘It’s time to get the job done’.
“The guys are experienced. Yes, not many have
played the [World Cup] final, but playing for India is as good as playing in
any World Cup game. There’s so much pressure, so much expectation. People keep
telling you – do this, do that, score 200, take five wickets. It’s in your head
all the time. These days the guys have their headphones on to keep the noise
out (laughs). But yeah, it’s nice – we’ve enjoyed the journey thoroughly,
[with] just one final push now.”