T20 cricket like English Premier League, says India stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma

Sport360 staff 15:40 06/03/2018
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  • The three skippers unveil the 2018 Nidahas Trophy.

    India will take on hosts Sri Lanka in the Nidahas T20I Trophy tri-series opener at Colombo on Tuesday. With Virat Kohli being provided a rest following his heroics in the long and gruelling tour of South Africa, Rohit Sharma will lead the Men in Blue in the T20I tournament which also involves Bangladesh.

    Speaking to the media, the stand-in skipper compared the T20 format to the Premier League in England due to its unpredictability.

    “T20 is such a format where any team can win on that particular day. The game can change in a span of one over, it can slip away. On a given day, any team can beat anyone. How do I explain it? It’s like the English Premier League. Some teams may be stronger, but anyone can win on a given day,” Rohit stated.

    The Mumbai batsman, who had stated that India are not the favourites in the tri-series, said the tournament allowed his side to test their bench strength in the run-up to the 2019 ICC World Cup.

    “It’s always important to know your bench strength. We’re lucky that we have got quality players who are waiting to do well. They have been consistently performing in A tours, Ranji Trophy, IPL. It’s the right time to blood them. We want to see how they play here and not rush them in ICC tournaments directly as we don’t want them to be taken by surprise. We want to see where they stand as individuals,” he said.

    India have rested several stars for the tri-series.

    India have rested several stars for the tri-series.

    India have rested several big guns for the tournament apart from Kohli. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya have all been given a well-deserved break from cricket with several youngsters getting a chance in the Nidahas Trophy.

    That has not gone down too well with Sri Lanka head coach Chandika Hathurasinghe who expressed his disappointment with India’s move to rest the big stars.

    “If you go by the ratings, India is the No1 team, so they always start ahead of the other teams. Whoever comes for India is a very strong team. We have to start well because we haven’t been doing well at home,” Hathurasinghe said.

    “We can’t control their selection. We are playing the India team so whoever they play on that day we prepare for them. If the stars are there it’s good for the spectators, but unfortunately at this stage, they’ve come with a different team,” he added.

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