ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2022

October 23, 2022

Rohit Sharma

Melbourne Cricket Ground

India

Post Match Media Conference

India 160/6, Pakistan 159/8

Q. Rohit, about Virat, over the last few months people saw him the way he was. He was trying to score runs. He was obviously struggling a bit at times. Can you talk about that process and the difference you've seen in the last two, three years leading up to this unbelievable moment for not only you, for all of us?

ROHIT SHARMA: Yeah, look, speaking about Virat, I honestly don't think he was struggling with form or anything. He was batting as good as he was, but with him, the expectations is always so high that even if he gets a good 30 or 40, people tend to talk about it.

From the team management perspective, I thought he was in good space right from the Asia Cup where he got a month off and then he came back to Asia Cup. He was fresh, got a brilliant hundred there, got a couple of fifties if I'm not wrong, and then leading up to the World Cup, we know the quality that he has, and he's done so well in these type of conditions in all three forms.

Obviously he used his experience today more than anything else, staying calm under pressure, and we know how good he is when the score is in front of him. He's one of the best chasers in the world.

Yeah, I thought that partnership between both of these guys, the hundred-run partnership, was a game-changing moment.

Q. In your entire career, do you regard this as the best knock you have seen on a personal note? And what pep talk did you give before the game?

ROHIT SHARMA: Pep talk? It was just about location. Obviously some of the guys haven't played in Australia, and some of the guys were playing for the first time in the World Cup and seeing 90,000 people. It's not going to be easy, and that is what we said; just we need to hold ourselves and we need to focus on what we need to do because we are here to do a job.

Obviously there will be a lot of support on the ground for us, so just focus on what we need to do, and our full focus has to be what we need to get out of this game.

What was the other part? Yeah, I think it has to go -- his definitely best for sure, but I think from the situation we were in, and to come out with a victory, I think it has to be one of India's best knocks, not just his best knock, because until the 13th over we were so behind the game, and the required rate was just climbing up and up. But to come out and chase that score was an extremely brilliant effort from Virat, and then obviously Hardik played a role there, as well.

I thought both of them, because these guys have played under pressure so many games for us, so they knew exactly how to handle that kind of situation, and they did pretty well in that situation.

Q. When it was 31 for 4 or even the 17th over after it was 112 for 4, what were you thinking at that point in time as captain? Did you believe that something can be done or were you just skeptical about it, that maybe it may not be?

ROHIT SHARMA: Well, when you have guys like those battle in the middle, you always believe that you're going to get the scores because Hardik has especially batted in that type of situation a lot, and Virat with his experience, with the kind of batsman he is, we always believed that these guys can pull us off from that situation.

Of course it was not an easy situation. We were obviously, like you said -- we required I think 62 I think in five overs, which is not an easy task, and with their bowling attack, you will back those guys to get the job done.

But it was probably one of the best I've witnessed the partnership, and then obviously Virat was brilliant. Those two's success off Haris Rauf, I think that was the turning point. Not the turning point I would say; this is where the game actually came towards us a little bit because we always knew there was one over of spin bowling. So inside in the dressing room we were thinking if we can keep about 15 to 18 runs in the last over, the guy is going to be under pressure to bowl that last over. He bowled that last over against us in Asia Cup and Hardik played some shots against him.

Obviously it's not easy when you have to bowl the last over being a spinner and only 15 or 18 runs to defend. It's not easy.

It sometimes plays both ways. The pressure is always on the bowler, I believe, in that type of situation. Yeah, I think we held our own pretty well in the last three overs. That was good to watch.

Q. Yesterday you talked about playing on the bigger fields and the challenges and bowling to the right lengths and stuff. Can you just describe the bowling unit and how you felt they executed the plans?

ROHIT SHARMA: I felt really good. That felt really good. We spoke of certain things in our team meetings and stuff like that. We spoke of how we want to utilise our bigger boundary and try and challenge the batsmen a little bit.

You've got to sometimes understand what the pitch is doing, as well. That back of length, slightly back of length, slightly full, was not easy to hit, and what happened in today's game will tell you that. A lot of the guys got wickets bowling that back of length because, like I said, at the toss, as well, there was a little bit of grass on the pitch and a bit of weather, quite nippy, as well.

So we knew if you keep hitting that length, it's going to be challenging, and that is something that we kept constantly putting in bowlers' ears, that challenge them -- if they hit you a couple of successful there, it's fine.

Actually we got rewarded bowling that length, as well. Hardik in particular bowling that kind of length and a couple of their batters trying to play cross-batted short got the top edge, and we got the wicket, and that is something that we spoke of at the start.

With the way Bhuvi and Arshdeep were swinging the ball, our initial plan was to just try and pitch it up and see if we can get the ball to swing.

The first four or five overs was brilliant to watch, honestly. For a little while it felt like a Test match because of the way the ball was moving around and the carry in the pitch, as well. It was a good cricketing pitch.