MUMBAI: Skipper Rohit Sharma on Thursday said India were “desperate” to break their ICC trophy drought in the upcoming World Cup at home, adding the host team had the “inner “confidence” and “self-belief” to win the global title.

India have failed to claim an Inter­national Cricket Council (ICC) event title for a decade now, with their last major win coming in the 2013 Champions Trophy, two years after their World Cup triumph at home. This year’s ICC World Cup is set be hosted by India from Oct 5 to Nov 19.

“I have never won a [50-overs] World Cup, it’s a dream to win a World Cup and to be here fighting for it, nothing makes me happier than that,” Sharma told the media in Mumbai on the sidelines of a La Liga promotional event, according to a Press Trust of India report.

The Indian captain is a brand ambassador of the Spanish football league.

“You don’t get World Cups on a platter, you have to really work hard and that is what we have been doing all these years, from 2011 till now we all are fighting for it,” he added.

“Everyone is desperate to go and win, because we know we have a good team. We are all good players, that inner confidence and self-belief is there that they can do it. It’s not happened doesn’t mean that we take it lightly. When we lost the 2022 World Cup, I said we will keep fighting for the next World Cup,” the 36-year-old captain continued.

NO SETTLED BATTER AT NUMBER FOUR

Right-handed Sharma said no batter had succeeded in settling into the vital number four slot in the ODI team since the retirement of veteran Yuvraj Singh who last represented India in 2017.

India are struggling to find a batter for number four slot, something that has also troubled them during the 2019 50-over World Cup held in England.

Shreyas Iyer, who is on a comeback trail after a long injury layoff, did well in his 20 matches at No. 4, scoring 805 runs at 47.35 with two centuries and five fifties.

“Look, No. 4 has been an issue for us for a long time. After Yuvi [Yuvraj], nobody has come and settled themselves in.

“But, for a long period of time, Shreyas has actually batted at No. 4 and he has done well — his numbers are really good,” Sharma said. “Unfortunately, injuries have given him a bit of trouble due to which he has been out for a while.”

The India captain said injuries to players in key positions has hampered the team in the longer run.

“The percentage of injuries that have happened in the last 4-5 years, it is massive. When the players get injured or are not available, you try doing different things with different players — that is what I have to say about No. 4,” he said.

Sharma emphasised the importance of resting the players.

“Last year there was the T20 World Cup, so we didn’t play ODI cricket. Now also we are doing the same, the ODI World Cup is there, so we are not playing T20s,” he underlined.

“You can’t play everything and be ready for the World Cup. We decided this two years ago. [Ravindra] Jadeja is also not playing T20, you did not ask about him? I understand about the focus [on himself and Virat]. But Jadeja is also not playing,” Sharma said in reply to a query about him and Kohli missing India’s recent T20 assignments.

“It is a [50-over] World Cup year; we want to keep everyone fresh; already we had so many injuries in the team that I am scared of injuries now,” he continued.

Sharma revealed that the team management had a discussion with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on the aspect of managing the players’ workload.

“We had a discussion with the BCCI also that we need to look after the players well. Whenever we have an opportunity to rest players, we will rest players and rotate them. We don’t want anyone to miss the key events. A couple of our key players missed some big events in the last two years and we don’t want that,” he said.

‘NO ONE AN AUTOMATIC SELECTION’

With both KL Rahul — India’s preferred option for number five as wicket-keeper/batter — and Iyer on comeback trail, Sharma said they would wait and watch how these two players went.

“No one is an automatic [selection], even I am not. We have this thing where nobody is guaranteed a spot. We cannot say that ‘you are there after all’ or things like that,” the captain said candidly.

“Yes, some players know that they are going to play but at this point in time, playing three ODIs in the West Indies [late last month] was a good opportunity to look at a few guys. In the [forthcoming] Asia Cup, again, we will face good opposition,” he said.

Sharma, himself a veteran of 244 ODIs, said while he was tasked with leading the team, his primary job was to do well as a batter.

“I need to do first as a batter. Captaincy is secondary. My role in the team is more as a batter. Obviously to captain well as well, [but] first of all, I have to score big runs and win games for the team,” he emphasised.

While Sharma backed Suryakumar Yadav to find his form in ODIs, he also said India would have to see for how long they would keep backing the world’s top-ranked T20 International batter, who has now been moved to number six.

“He is really working hard, and he is talking to a lot of guys who have played a lot of ODI cricket as to what kind of attitude and mindset [to have]… like that,” the Indian skipper said.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2023