Highlight
- India will take on Pakistan on 23 October 2022 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
- This is Rohit Sharma’s first ICC event as Indian captain
- Indian T20 team leaves for Australia on 6 October 2022
T20 World Cup 2022: Indian World Cup team, led by Rohit Sharma Boarded his flight to Australia on October 6, 2022. The Indian team had decided to reach Australia early to suit the weather and playing conditions. The men in blue are set to play their first match against Pakistan on October 23, 2022, and as of now, they are pretty sure of how things are going for them. The Indian team is currently undergoing rigorous training which includes sessions of endurance, batting and bowling and fielding drills at the nets.
India’s performance in the 2021 edition of the ICC World Cup was quite disappointing and their loss to Pakistan in the first game completely derailed their campaign. The Indian contingent is certainly wary of the threat that Pakistan poses, but for now they are completely focused on their preparations. The Indian players are undergoing intense training under the watchful eyes of head coach Rahul Dravid, batting coach Vikram Rathor, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey and fielding coach T Dileep. The Rohit Sharma-led Indian team looked very disappointing and mediocre with their approach against Western Australia in an informal practice match and they would like to improve on all fronts going forward.
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Batting coach Vikram Rathour questioned India’s batting preparedness saying:
The focus was on getting used to the circumstances. We all knew the conditions were going to be different in Australia, especially the pace and bounce which is different from Indian surfaces. So the idea of coming here early and spending some time and practicing here was to get used to these conditions and get used to the pace and bounce. The boys have worked hard and I think everyone has some volume.
Addressing the preparations in their respective departments, bowling coach Mhambrey said:
The bounce here in Australia is different from the last few matches that we played here. So it gives bowlers a great deal of opportunity to adapt to the conditions, to hit those lengths, for the bounce of the wicket, what individual lengths you want to hit.
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The visitors will play another practice game against the same opponent on 13 October before traveling to Brisbane for two official practice matches against England and New Zealand.