CHENNAI, October 8 : India captain Rohit Sharma is aware of Australia’s awe-inspiring record in global events and warned his teammates not to lower their guard against them in their first match of the 50-over World Cup tomorrow.
India are currently the top-ranked ODI team and they beat Australia 2-1 last month in a series before heading into the World Cup determined to repeat their 2011 feat when they won the trophy on home soil.
“Australia being Australia, we know how they play in ICC tournaments,” Sharma told reporters on the eve of their clash against the five-time champions. “There is a reason they have so many championships. So for us it will be very important that we stick to what we want to do as a team, focus on our strengths and assess the conditions here.”
The conditions will feel almost equally familiar to Australia, pointed out Sharma, thanks to their participation in the IPL.
“It’s absolutely true that they play a lot of cricket here,” he said. “In terms of how they plan their schedule, it’s pretty good. They know what is at stake, World Cup in India, so they make sure they play as much ODIs as possible in India.”
India will take a late call on the participation of opener Shubman Gill, who is recovering from dengue fever. Should he miss out, left-handed Ishan Kishan is likely to be Sharma’s opening partner though KL Rahul is also an option.