MUMBAI: India’s young cricket team will not be weighed down by history when they face New Zealand in the World Cup semifinal as they have already shown they can handle the high expectations during their unbeaten run in the group stage, skipper Rohit Sharma said on Tuesday.
India won their first World Cup in 1983 and endured a long wait before MS Dhoni’s side claimed the trophy on home soil in 2011 and the current side has raised hopes of another triumph with nine wins in a flawless campaign before Wednesday’s game.
“That’s the beauty of this team. Half of the guys weren’t even born when we won our first World Cup. And then when we won our second World Cup in 2011, half of the guys weren’t even playing the game,” Rohit told reporters in Mumbai.
“This current crop of players, they’re very much into what’s happening today, what can happen tomorrow. Those are things they try and focus on. I don’t see them talking about how we won the last World Cup, how we won our first World Cup,” he added.
Rohit said he was impressed with how his men had managed the pressure from an expectant nation.
“From the first game to the last game, be it a league match, semifinal or final, whenever you play a World Cup game there’s always pressure,” Rohit said.
“This is obvious because the World Cup is a World Cup, that’s why there’s pressure. But we have handled that pressure very well in the last nine games.” (Reuters)
