'You can't keep everyone happy...': Rohit Sharma on India's squad for T20 World Cup
Bengaluru, Jan 18: The squad is not yet finalised but in his mind, India captain Rohit Sharma says he knows about 10 players who will be part of the side in the ICC T20 World Cup to be held this June in the Americas.
The series against Afghanistan was India's last T20 engagement before the World Cup. It also marked Rohit and Virat Kohli's comeback to the format after 14 months. Fringe players like Shivam Dube also got an opportunity to prove themselves in the series that India won 3-0.
Speaking to Jio Cinema, Rohit said some of the promising players will be left out for the event in Americas but that is the nature of professional sport.
"Like when we were playing the ODI World Cup, we tried out many boys in T20s. They perform but when the main squad is announced, some boys have to be left out. So, it is disappointing for them. But our job is to bring clarity to the team.
"So, in the pool of 25-30 players we have, they know what is expected of each player. We have still not finalised the squad for the T20 World Cup, but obviously in the mind you know the 8-10 players who are going to play," he said on Wednesday night after the third and final T20 here.
Majority of the games will be played in the Caribbean where the pitches are expected to be on the slower side.
"In the West Indies, the conditions are quite slow, so we have to pick the squad accordingly. Again I say, Rahul bhai and I have tried to maintain clarity in the team. The one thing I have learnt from captaincy is that you can't keep everyone happy. You have to focus on the needs of the team," said the skipper.
After a couple of ducks, Rohit got back among the runs with a record fifth T20 hundred. In his memorable effort, the skipper also attempted reverse hits multiple times with the surface playing out a few tricks in the powerplay.
"I have been practising it a lot in the nets. You have to play some shots in order to put the bowlers under pressure. When the ball is spinning and you can't hit straight, you have to try something new.
"I have been practising reverse sweeps and sweeps for the past two years. You would have seen me play them once or twice in Test matches. You have the options and it's up to you how you are using those options.
"The ball was spinning and gripping today so, I thought I'd play with the spin rather than step out and hit hard in front of the wicket," he said.
With the three games, Rohit also got up to speed with the team's plans for the World Cup.
"I had not played for one year, so I discussed ideas with Rahul bhai (Dravid). Although I was watching the games, I was not playing. I got an understanding of a few things, so we wanted to implement them and also do something different.
"We wanted our bowlers to bowl in a different way, someone wasn't comfortable bowling in the power play, so we had to use them there. Some were not comfortable bowling at the death, we asked them to bowl there," he added.
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Sharad Pawar praised RSS after seeing how it burst fake narrative balloon of LS polls: Fadnavis
Nagpur, Jan 10: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar praised the RSS after realising how the outfit managed to overcome the fake narrative spread by the opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The opposition had claimed BJP wanted to win 400 seats to change the Constitution and end reservations, a narrative which BJP leaders later claimed hit the party hard.
On Pawar praising the RSS recently, the CM said the MVA was successful in creating a fake narrative during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"When assembly polls were approaching, many people from diverse fields who are inspired by the RSS played their role and burst the balloon of this fake narrative. Sharad Pawar saheb is very intelligent. He would have certainly studied this aspect. He realised that this (RSS) is not a regular political power but a nationalist power. In any competition it is good to praise others," he added.
That is why Pawar may have praised the RSS, Fadnavis said.
Speaking at an interaction with senior editor Vivek Ghalsasi at Late Vilasji Fadnis Jivhala programme here, Fadnavis also said he had asked for organisational work when Eknath Shinde was made chief minister in June 2022, but senior leaders asked him to join the government.
He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him not to behave like an extra-constitutional authority in the government.
He said the decision to become deputy chief minister on the command of the party leadership earned him a lot of praise from the cadre.
After the massive mandate the ruling alliance received in the 2024 assembly polls, Fadnavis said people and party workers would not have been happy if the CM was not from the BJP.
Shinde himself agreed within minutes that the CM must be from the BJP, which itself got 132 seats and was close to a majority of its own in the 288-member assembly, he added.
On Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting him during the winter sessions of the legislature in Nagpur, Fadnavis said he had announced he would not indulge in politics of revenge after becoming CM and all leaders responded positively to it.
On chances of the NCP (SP) and NCP coming closer or reuniting, Fadnavis said, "If you see the developments that took place from 2019 to 2024, I realised never say never and anything can happen. Uddhav Thackeray goes to some other party and Ajit Pawar comes to us. In politics anything can happen though I am not saying this should happen."
He praised BJP leader Arun Gujarati from whom he learnt patience, which he claimed was an important quality in politics along with the ability to take criticism.
In a lighter vein, he said, "I only get angry when I am hungry. If you see me angry then give me something to eat and my anger will go away."
