ICC T20 WC 2024: Rohit Sharma wants this from his side

Ray Sportz News Desk: Rohit Sharma led Indian Cricket Team will face Ireland in their 2024 ICC T20 World Cup opener at the newly built Nassau County International Stadium on June 5. As it’s a new pitch, India skipper Rohit Sharma feels that his side needs to cope up with the pitch and the conditions quickly, so that they can start on a good note at the start of the tournament.

However, Rohit and company will get a chance to check the nature of the pitch and overall conditions when they face Bangladesh in a warm-up match here on Saturday. It’s also India’s lone training game ahead of the ICC marquee event.

The warm-up match is important from India’s perspective because their matches will start at 10.30 AM local time and the players need to get used to day-time matches after playing under lights in the IPL for the last two months.

“We’re looking to understand the conditions more importantly (before the tournament proper) as we haven’t been here before,” Rohit told ICC.

The Mumbaikar emphasised the need for his side to get into a “rhythm” before the real action starts, and he wanted to use this side game as a springboard.

“(We will) try and make the most of the conditions, get used to what it’s going to be like on June 5 when we play our first game,” he added.

The challenge for the Indians will be to adapt to the drop-in turf here, something they don’t come across very often in international cricket.

“It’s just about getting into that rhythm of getting the feel of the ground, pitch and stuff like that,” he said.

Rohit was part of the first batch of India cricketers to arrive here on May 26, along with Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel.

Moving beyond the match routines, Rohit also found time to take in the beauty of the venue.

“It looks beautiful. It’s quite an open ground. When we come here and play our first game, I just can’t wait to feel the atmosphere in the stadium,” he said.

“It’s a decent capacity as well. Hopefully it’s gonna be a good one.”

Rohit hoped that fans will throng the venue for their matches.

“People in New York will be very interested in coming and watching the World Cup, as it is happening for the first time here.

“I’m pretty sure all the fans across various teams are quite excited and looking forward to this tournament. And also as players (we) can’t wait to get started,” he noted.