Rohit Sharma, the captain of India, appeared amused as he attended the news conference the day before the opening ODI against Bangladesh in Mirpur. During the press conference, Rohit was quizzed on a wide range of topics, including the makeup of India’s team and preparations for the ODI World Cup in 2019. Rohit responded instantly to one particular journalist’s query. Rohit also responded with a cheeky grin, admitting that his team won’t have the same level of support in Bangladesh as they do practically everywhere else in the world. “India get crowd support all over the world…” said the reporter and Rohit intervened righ away, saying “Not here.”
“Bangladesh is the only place where India doesn’t get the crowd support. Many Indian players will play here for the first time. What do you think about that?” the reporter then asked. “The crowd here can be intimidating. They’re passionate fans of cricket and they get right behind the team. It is exciting for their team. But for us, yes, lot of guys are coming to Bangladesh for the first time; but that doesn’t change anything. You’re used to play in such big crowds when you tour places like Australia and England. The crowd there can be intimidating as well. They want to get behind their team, it’s the same thing here as well. It’s not going to affect our boys, they’re used to being under pressure and being challenged,” Rohit responded.
The Indian cricket team is looking to rebuild after the T20 World Cup fiasco with the ultimate goal of assembling a strong team for the ODI World Cup, which will be held in India in 2023. However, the Indian team has plenty of time to assemble a team since there are still 10 months until the competition.