Rohit Sharma strongly refutes 'unfair advantage' charge in T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final against England

Updated on June 27, 2024 at 04:05 IST

The playing conditions of the 2024 T20 World Cup had set India’s semi-final at Providence, Guyana keeping in mind the Indian fans at home. Rohit Sharma believes that the playing field is level as the English players are as familiar with the conditions in the West Indies as the Indian cricketers.

Rohit Sharma in action at T20 WC 2024

Indian captain Rohit Sharma rejected claims that his team had an unfair advantage over other teams, with a predetermined venue for them if they qualified for the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2024. According to Rohit, the playing field is level because the English players are as familiar with the conditions in the West Indies as the Indian cricketers.

Notably, the playing conditions of the T20 World Cup 2024 had set India’s semi-final in Providence, Guyana. This has been done to ensure that the match will be played in prime time, as per Indian Standard Time.

“I don’t think it’s an advantage. A lot of these players have played in different types of venues. I’m sure a lot of English cricketers have played here. So I don’t see it as an advantage, ultimately. account of the day, you have to play good cricket to win, that’s how I see it,” Rohit said in a press conference on the eve of the match.

India won their only T20 World Cup trophy in 2007 under MS Dhoni and are looking to end their trophy drought in this edition of the tournament.

Rohit was asked if this adds a lot of pressure to the current setup or if they consider the semi-final as important as any other match so far.

“It’s a bit of both. We want to treat this game like any other game, we don’t want to think about what’s ahead and the context of it. Everyone knows deep down it’s a semi-final , and you don’t want to talk about it. The whole group is in a good state of mind, enjoying each other’s success and company, it’s important to continue the good work,” said the Indian skipper.

We were put under pressure during the tournament, but we responded very well. We don’t want to think too far ahead, we will just focus on this match. If you think too much, you won’t be able to make decisions,” he added.

The Rohit Sharma-led team played without much fear in the competition, which is completely opposite to their 2022 ‘slow and cautious’ model.

However, the Indian skipper insisted that he remained unchanged and simply continued his aggressive brand of cricket, which was on display during the 2023 ODI World Cup in India.

“Honestly not much has changed, whenever you approach a T20 game you try to play with a free mind. Even in ODI cricket we have followed that pattern. Not much has changed as such, that depends on what the So it depends on that and the challenges that it brings,” Rohit said.