Rohit Sharma opens up on T20 WC clash against Pakistan, weighs in on Mohd Shami's fitness

All 16 captains of the participating teams in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 appeared together at the pre-tournament press conference on Saturday. While the first group of captains to face questions consisted of Australia, Afghanistan, England, New Zealand, Namibia, Netherlands, Sri Lanka, and UAE, the second group featured captains of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, West Indies, and Zimbabwe.

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma made many interesting revelations about the Indian squad for the World Cup, following the announcement of Mohammed Shami being included in the team as Jasprit Bumrah’s replacement. "Mohammed Shami I haven't seen but whatever I have heard it is good. We have a practice session in Brisbane on Sunday and I am looking forward to seeing Shami," Sharma was quoted as saying, as reported by news agency ANI.

Meanwhile, captain Rohit also faced a question about facing arch-rivals Pakistan in their T20 World Cup campaign opener on October 23, and also about his camaraderie with the Pakistani players. Asked to shed his thoughts on playing against Pakistan and the hype behind it, Rohit said, “We understand the importance of the game, but there is no point just talking about it every time and creating that pressure within ourselves."

Recalling the encounter against Pakistan during the Asia Cup 2022, Rohit revealed, "I don't believe in last-minute decisions. We want to keep our boys informed about team selection before so that they can prepare early. I already have my XI for the Pakistan match. Already those players are informed. I don't believe in a last-minute thing. I want them to prepare well. We understand the importance of India vs Pakistan match but there is no point in talking every time, even when we met during Asia Cup, we keep talking about the families, which cars do you have." The Indian skipper further added that the earlier generations have shown that there is a special relationship between both nations. 

India and Pakistan have met thrice in the last one year

This will be the third time in the last year that India and Pakistan will face each other on the cricket field. Pakistan defeated India by 10 wickets during last year’s T20 World Cup, which marked Pakistan’s first-ever win over the Men In Blue in the World Cup of any format. However, India made a comeback by winning by five wickets in the Asia Cup 2022 group stage match, before Pakistan defeated India by five wickets in the Super 4 match. 

Having said that, Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam will now make their final preparations for the World Cup. Interestingly, both teams are looking for the second T20 World Cup title at the 2022 edition in Australia. Here’s a look at both squads for the T20 World Cup.

T20 World Cup 2022: Full Squads for India and Pakistan

India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami. Standby Players: Mohammed Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Shardul Thakur.

Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood. Standby Players: Usman Qadir, Mohammad Haris, Shahnawaz Dahani.