Top Focus/ 'We have got guys who..': Rohit Sharma hints at India's possible game plan for the Pakistan game

ICC Cricket World Cup: On Wednesday, October 11, 2023, at New Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium, the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 saw the Indian Cricket Team at its best. Eight wickets separated India and Afghanistan with 90 balls left. Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bat first. In the allocated 50 overs, they scored managed to score just 272 runs while losing 8 wickets. On the other hand, Rohit Sharma and his team chased down the total in just 35 overs, with eight wickets in hand. Team India, as of now have won their first 2 matches of the competition and are now set to face their arch-rivals, Pakistan, on October 14, 2023, at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.

3 things you need to know 

• Afghanistan made 272 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in 50 overs 
• India chased a score of 273 in 35 overs with a loss of 2 wickets
• IND vs PAK will be played on Saturday, October 14, 2023

Also Read: Gautam Gambhir's reaction to Kohli-Naveen hug

Rohit Sharma wants India to handle the controllables before the IND vs PAK game

Indian captain Rohit Sharma, speaking after his team's convincing eight-wicket win over Afghanistan, emphasized on the importance of focusing on aspects within the team's control as they prepare for Saturday's highly anticipated World Cup duel against arch rivals Pakistan. Rohit Sharma, captaining India, struck a stunning 131 runs off of 84 deliveries, helping his team to its second straight World Cup victory. At the Arun Jaitley Stadium, India were able to achieve their target of 273 runs because of his brilliant innings, which included five sixes and 16 boundaries. During a post-match presentation, talking about his next match against Pakistan, he said: 

We have got players with different skill sets in our team. They bring different attributes of the game to the team and it puts you in good positions as a team when you have that. We have got guys who can play fearless cricket with bat and guys who can absorb like the last game. (Asked about playing Pakistan and the talk around it) For us it's crucial that we don't worry about external factors and just look at things we can control. We just need to show up and do well. Things like what the pitch is like, what combo we can play is what we can control. What happens outside we won't be worried about it. It's just about focusing on what we can do as players and how we can perform.

Also Read: ICC ODI WC 2023: India vs Afghanistan Highlights

What’s next for Team India?

After beating Afghanistan on Wednesday, Rohit Sharma and his squad are likely to travel to Ahmedabad on Thursday ahead of their big clash against Babar Azam’s side in the Cricket World Cup 2023. It is being reported that Shubman Gill could make his ODI World Cup debut against Pakistan but an official confirmation is still being awaited.