Time of their lives

Bengaluru, November 13

Enjoying each other’s company in a lively dressing room atmosphere has been possible due to good results, said skipper Rohit Sharma after yet another clinical performance that took India’s victory count to nine on the bounce.

India ended their World Cup league stage beating Netherlands by 160 runs here on Sunday, and skipper Rohit described their campaign as a clinical one.

“We enjoy each other’s company. We wanted to play with enjoyment on the field. We try to keep the atmosphere outside lively. The results do matter to keep the dressing room lively,” he said.

“We are playing in India, there will be expectation. We wanted to do the job at hand. It’s one thing to talk about it but for everyone to buy into it is very important,” he added.

Rohit’s men topped the league standings with 18 points and face fourth-placed New Zealand on November 15 in Mumbai in the first semifinal.

“Very pleased at how we’ve played in these nine games. Very clinical from game one to last,” he said.

The best aspect of India’s campaign has been a total team performance where all eleven players have done their bit at some point or the other. “Different individuals have stepped up and done the job. Everyone wanted to take the responsibility. We started the tournament four games in a row chasing, and then we had to bat first and the pacers did the job along with the spinners,” he added.

Rohit said his side never looked too far and took one game at a time. “Since we started the tournament, it was all about one game at a time. We never wanted to look too far ahead. It is a long tournament, 11 games in all if we go all the way,” he said.

Kuldeep expects tough semifinal for bowlers

Spinner Kuldeep expects the bowlers to have a tough time at Mumbai’s batsman-friendly Wankhede Stadium when the hosts take on New Zealand on Wednesday.

South Africa posted 399/7 against England and 382/5 against Bangladesh while India made 357/8 against Sri Lanka at the venue before Glenn Maxwell smashed an extraordinary double century as Australia chased down 291 against Afghanistan last week.

“It’s a difficult venue to bowl at. The bounce is true and batsmen often dominate there. Unlike in T20, the bowlers have plenty of time to come back into the game,” Kuldeep said. “But yes, you need a couple of early wickets to get on top of the game and the opponents.”