If you guys can keep quiet for a while, he'll be alright: Rohit Sharma to media on Virat Kohli

Tags: West Indies tour of India 2022, India vs West Indies, 1st T20I at Kolkata, Feb 16, 2022, India, West Indies, Rohit Gurunath Sharma, Virat Kohli

Published on: Feb 16, 2022

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Team India’s white-ball captain Rohit Sharma has backed his predecessor Virat Kohli to the hilt over the latter’s dry run in the one-day series against West Indies. Ahead of the T20I series, which begins on Wednesday, Rohit was asked about Kohli’s struggles with the willow.

Asserting that the former captain was in the right mental space, Rohit took a dig at the media and said, "If you guys can keep quiet for a while, I think he'll be alright. We don't need to do too much talking from your side, then everything will be taken care of. He is in a great mental space from whatever I see of him.”

The 34-year-old added about the India No.3, “He has been part of this international team for more than a decade. If someone has spent that much time in international cricket, they know how to handle the pressure situations, the environment, everything. It all starts from you guys. If you guys can keep it quite for a bit, then everything will fall into place.”

The skipper admitted that India are definitely looking towards building a team for the upcoming T20 World Cup. However, he also pointed out that the team’s progress has been hampered due to a number of injury woes.

He added, "The idea is to identify the players who will play the world cup and given them gametime. A lot of players are not there in the team. We just want to keep other guys and the backups ready. we have a packed schedule, injuries also happen. It's important to give the guys who will fill those roles game time. We will give those guys chances in this series and the one afterward.”

All-rounder Washington Sundar was ruled out of the T20I series on Monday due to a left hamstring muscle strain and has been replaced by left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav. Before him, KL Rahul and Axar Patel were also ruled out.

India will take on West Indies in three T20Is from February 16 to 20 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The hosts had earlier blanked the visitors 3-0 in the one-day series.

--By A Cricket Correspondent

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