Team India captain Rohit Sharma shared his views on the New Zealand cricket team ahead of the ODI World Cup semi-final at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. India and New Zealand have been involved in several memorable battles in recent times, however, Kane Williamson and Co. have managed to outclass the Men in Blue in the knockout rounds of the ICC events. New Zealand also beat India in the semi-final of the 2019 WC semi-final in Manchester.
New Zealand have been one of the most consistent sides in the 50-over format in the past decade as they have played the finals of the last two World Cups – 2015 and 2019, while they have qualified for the semis in this edition.
Follow all the action from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 including the World Cup schedule, World Cup 2023 results, and ICC Cricket World Cup points table. Players are vying to top the World Cup 2023 Most Runs and World Cup 2023 Most Wickets charts.
Rohit called New Zealand the most disciplined team and asserted that both teams know each other’s mentality as they have played cricket together in IPL.
“Whenever we’ve come up against New Zealand, obviously, probably the most disciplined team in terms of how they want to play the game. And they play their cricket very smartly. They understand the opposition quite well. Obviously having played with a lot of our players in different stages of their careers, different tournaments, they do understand the mentality of the opposition. It is the same for us as well,” Rohit said in the press conference on the eve of the mega semi-final.
The Indian skipper also pointed out the consistency of the New Zealand cricket team from 2015 onwards.
“But, whenever we’ve played against them, the most disciplined team, I would say. And they’ve been very consistent for so many years now, playing semifinals and the finals of probably all ICC tournaments in the last, I don’t know, maybe six, seven years, from 2015 onwards, if I’m not wrong,” he added.
The 36-year-old said that they have closely followed all the teams and have a plan set to face the New Zealand team in the semi-final.
So yeah, and we do understand what they bring to the table and how they play their cricket. We have been closely following all the teams as to where their strength lies, where their weakness lies. And based on that, we try and go out there and play the game.
Comments
0 comment