Rohit Sharma urges India teammates ahead of World Cup clash vs Pakistan: Don’t worry about external factors

Following a commanding eight-wicket win over Afghanistan, India captain Rohit Sharma urged his team to focus on “things we can control” ahead of the mega World Cup clash against archrival Pakistan on Wednesday.

India romped home to their second successive win of the World Cup after captain Rohit Sharma’s majestic 131-run knock set up their eight-wicket thrashing of Afghanistan on Wednesday. Rohit scored 131 off 84 balls, hitting five sixes and 16 fours, as India chased down a 273-run victory target with 15 overs to spare at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

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“(It) was a good win for us, very important to get that momentum at the start of the tournament,” Rohit said during the post-match presentation.

“For us it is 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,” Rohit said while talking about India’s clash against Pakistan on Saturday in Ahmedabad.

“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 is just about focusing on what we can do as players and how we can perform,” the India captain added.

Rohit said that absorbing pressure was crucial in India’s first World Cup game. After being reduced to 5/3, India defeated Australia by six wickets in the first match to establish their dominance.

“We have got guys who can play fearless cricket with bat and guys who can absorb like the last game. It is about absorbing pressure and taking the right decision on the field,” Rohit said.

“There will be a spell from the opposition where you will have to absorb pressure. Leading up to the tournament, we had played such games.

“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,” he added.