Rohit Sharma was visibly annoyed when he was asked about the “atmosphere” surrounding India-Pakistan games by a reporter during a press conference held to announce India’s 2023 World Cup squad.
Subscribe to the Wisden Cricket YouTube channel for post-match analysis, player interviews, and much more.
India announced their World Cup squad today (September 5) in Sri Lanka, midway through the Asia Cup. The squad was announced by chief selector Ajit Agarkar at a press conference along with India captain Rohit Sharma.
The 15-member squad was on expected lines, with Tilak Varma and Prasidh Krishna in the Asia Cup squad who missed out on a World Cup spot.
Among other questions surrounding the selection and non-selection of players and the balance of the squad, Rohit and Agarkar were also asked about the “atmosphere” surrounding India-Pakistan games.
[breakout id=”0″][/breakout]
A reporter, directing a question at Rohit, started with: “whenever India plays against Pakistan, if India aren’t able to do well, an environment is created….”
The reporter was interrupted by the media manager, who clarified that this was a World Cup-related presser. He kept going, insisting it was a World Cup question.
“But we’ve seen in the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, that whenever we have played (against Pakistan), we have done well”, he continued. “What do you have to say about the environment that is created from the outside?”
Rohit didn’t seem pleased with the question and was visibly frustrated. He said, “How many times do I say this? Whatever happens outside doesn’t affect us. Our job is something else. Our job isn’t to understand the “environment” outside or play according to it. All players are professionals. All these players have seen this already. I don’t think it makes a huge difference.”
Rohit further added that he would not like such questions at press conferences during the World Cup. “And don’t ask me these questions at the World Cup, when we do a press conference in India – “This environment, that” etc. I won’t answer these questions. Because it doesn’t make sense to keep talking about it. Our focus is something else, and we would like to, as a team, focus on that particular thing,” said Rohit.
India and Pakistan no longer play bilateral cricket in the wake of political tensions between the countries, which is why, their matches in multi-nations tournaments are highly anticipated, and often lead to extreme reactions from fans depending on the results.
India have historically had an upper hand over Pakistan in these tournaments, but Pakistan have given India a run for their money lately, starting with the 2017 Champions Trophy final victory. Since 2020, India and Pakistan have met five times across formats, with both teams managing to win two games each. Their most recent game, India’s first in the ongoing Asia Cup, got washed out.
India and Pakistan are scheduled to meet at least once more in the Asia Cup, before clashing on October 14 in the World Cup in Ahmedabad.
