India upbeat about trip down under

CHENNAI: India would be embarking on yet another challenging away tour on Friday to Australia where they play three T20s, four Test matches and three ODIs. Rohit Sharma, who led India to a 3-0 T20 series sweep against West Indies in Virat Kohli’s absence, said Australia tour “will be a different ball game.”

“Australia is always challenging when it comes to going out there and performing. Every time you go there, you are tested as a player, as an individual and as a team as well. I think we have got to be at our best and when you win a series like this (West Indies) and when you play like that in the tournament you are high on confidence. It’s all about taking that confidence to Australia and doing what we did as a team,” said Rohit.

“But I think the things that we have been doing as a team and as a player, we keep repeating it. The best teams in the world keep repeating those performances. It will be important for us that we start fresh. Not think about what we have done in the past,” he added.

India’s tour of Australia starts with the three-match T20 series at Brisbane on November 21.

Asked about his chances of making it to the playing XI in Test side, Rohit said: “I am someone who doesn’t think too far ahead. So I am focusing on the T20 series first. Of course the Test match is something that I was looking forward for a long time and it will be nice to go out there and represent India in Tests, but we want to win the T20s first.”

In the final T20 against West Indies in Chennai on Sunday, Shikhar Dhawan returned to form with a swashbuckling 92 and Rishabh Pant scored scintillating fifty to chase down the target.

Rohit said Dhawan’s return to form was important ahead of the Aussie tour. “It was important from the team’s perspective and for the players to get some runs ahead of the important Australia tour. Shikhar especially was batting well in the ODI series but he was not able to get big scores. I am glad that he could play a match-winning knock and get some form under his belt before the crucial tour,” Rohit said.

“Rishabh was also hungry to go out and get some runs. It was the perfect situation. We were two down inside the first six overs. There was a bit of pressure as well. They handled it well and it was a match-winning partnership. It is important in the team’s perspective that both these guys got runs,” he said.