The Indian captain Rohit Sharma isn’t prepared to take the upcoming three-match series of the One Day International (ODI) format against Sri Lanka as ‘practice’ for the upcoming edition of the Champions Trophy 2025, to take place at the beginning of 2025 in Pakistan.
India isn’t going to feature so many 50-over games before the CT 2025, as apart from this series, they will only host England in a three-match series in this format at home, just a couple of weeks before the start of the campaign.
Rohit Sharma has returned to the Indian team after enjoying a healthy break since winning the T20 World Cup 2024 for the Blue Brigade in the last month in the West Indies and the United States of America (USA).
“It’s not a practice ground, but an international game”- Rohit Sharma
One of the best things India did at the end of their 2023 ODI World Cup, where they finished as the runners-up of the event, was not stretching their attention in the event, but looking forward to the T20 World Cup, and planning a new template to play the shortest format of the game.
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“Whatever we have done in the past, that was good for that particular period, but time keeps moving forward, and we also need to keep moving forward.” The ODI captain of the Indian team, Rohit Sharma, expressed this at the pre-match press conference before the first ODI against the Island side. “Now that the T20 World Cup is over, we have to think about what lies ahead of us as a team.”
The Nagpur-born also refused to address these games on ‘practice ground’ for the Champions Trophy, as he aims to achieve the series victory against a strong Sri Lanka side at their home.
“You get asked a lot whether this series is a preparation for the World Cup, or is this a preparation for the Champions Trophy. It’s not a practice ground – it’s still an international game.” The veteran observed.
“We will keep in our minds what we want to achieve, but this is by no means preparation or practice or anything like that. We want to come here and play good cricket and get something out of the series.”Rohit Sharma explained to the media.
The Men in Blue didn’t need to work hard much during the three-match T20I series, as the Suryakumar Yadav-led quite comprehensively got the better of the home side. They blew away Charith Asalanka-led team during the first two T20Is, before holding their nerve in the third to gain a win in the super over.
Rohit Sharma spoke about India trying to make experiments during the series, but not at the cost of the quality of cricket they are known to play for.
“Of course, we want to try everything possible, but when you’re representing the nation, the quality of cricket should remain the way it is, and how we’ve played over the last few years.” The 37-year-old observed.
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“That is more important, rather than thinking about it as a preparation and saying let’s go out and chill in Colombo. We don’t think like that.” Rohit Sharma concluded.
India will be playing no ODIs from the end of the series till January, before which they start their journey for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025.
