Indian captain Rohit Sharma wishes to create strong bench strength for the national team

Times have changed and an oversaturated cricket calendar is extremely common these days. With the sport being played round the year, including the Indian Premier League as well as international cricket, Indian captain Rohit Sharma feels that the need to create strong bench strength with an eye to build towards the future is more important than ever.

Given the short turnaround times for rest and recovery in between matches, more and more players are getting injured or getting burnt out. As a result, injury and workload management has seeped into the long-term plans of every major team in the world. Team India, too, has been trying to experiment with various squads ever since their surprising group-stage elimination at the T20 World Cup in UAE last year.

“We play lot of cricket, so there will be injuries and workload management, so we have to rotate players,” Rohit said on Star Sports show ‘Follow the Blues’.

“But it gives our bench strength to go and play the game, which is why we could try so many other guys who are ready to take that international stage and perform. We want to create our bench strength, we want to make sure that India’s future is in safe hands. That’s the planning that we are trying to have,” he added.

Rohit, having taken the reins of the side from Kohli across all three formats, is now gearing up to defend India’s continental crown at the Asia Cup. That event will, of course, be followed by the all-important T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.

The priority, for Rohit, is to keep getting better as a team. Winning or losing a series is a part and parcel of the game, but the ultimate objective is always about becoming a better cricket team.

The 35-year-old also added that although the team’s goal is paramount, individuals are also required to come into and play an active role in the success of the team. They need to buy the thought process of the management that is directing the entire team and work towards achieving that goal with their performances.

Here Rohit also finds support from the head coach Rahul Dravid, under whose captaincy he actually made his ODI debut. Suggesting that both the coach and the captain think along the same lines, Rohit said, “One thing we have decided and have in common is we want to send the right messages and we don’t want to create any confusion in the group.”

Transparent communication and making players feel secure about their places so as to allow them to play with greater expression seems to be the benchmark for the Indian team under Dravid and Rohit going forward.