Rohit reveals message for India teammates ahead of T20 World Cup final
The India captain wants his side to keep it simple when taking on South Africa in the T20 World Cup final in Barbados.
ICC Digital Insider Crystal Arnold and former England captain Naseer Hussain preview the upcoming big final between South Africa and India in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024.
India captain Rohit Sharma has urged his team to remain calm and stay composed as they seek a second ICC Men's T20 World Cup title against South Africa on Saturday.
Rohit's side booked their place in the T20 World Cup final with an emphatic 68-run victory over England in Guyana on Thursday and travel north to Kensington Oval in Barbados to face the Proteas in a battle of the only two unbeaten teams at the tournament.
India were 68-run winners in the second semi-final of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024.
While Rohit knows the importance of the one-off match against the Proteas, the experienced skipper wants his team to enter the clash with the same mindset they used at the event thus far as they try and break their recent drought at ICC tournaments and add a second T20 World Cup trophy to the one they claimed in South Africa in 2007.
"We've been very calm as a team," Rohit said after India's semi-final victory.
"We do understand the occasion (in the final), but for us, it's important to keep calm and composed.
"That helps us make good decisions. We need to make good decisions through the 40 overs. In this game too, we were steady and calm, and didn't panic too much. That has been the key for us. Yes, we do understand the occasion is important, but we need to play good cricket as well."
Rohit top-scored for India in their semi-final triumph with a well-compiled half-century at the top of the order, with Suryakymar Yadav then chipping in with a handy cameo of 47 that helped the Asian side post a good total of 171/7 after they were sent into bat first by England captain Jos Buttler.
England's run chase never reached any great heights, with India's spinners doing the majority of the damage as Kuldeep Yadav (3/19), Axar Patel (3/23) and Ravindra Jadeja (0/16) combined to take six wickets between them and impress Rohit in the process.
"They are gun spinners," the India skipper said.
"When conditions are like that in front of them, it's very difficult to play some shots. Yes, the pressure is on them to execute those balls, but they were very calm and knew what to bowl. We had a chat after the first innings: the plan was to hit the stumps as much as possible and keep the stumps in play and that's what they did."
Axar Patel sent back three of England's top four batters in an incredible spell.