Important not to get ahead of ourselves, says Rohit Sharma ahead of semifinal against England

Adelaide, November 9

On the eve of their semifinal clash against England in the Men's T20 World Cup, India skipper Rohit Sharma insisted that it is important for his side not to get too thinking about what would happen in future and stick to the processes which propelled them to get to the knockouts.

India entered the semifinals as the toppers from Group 2 in Super 12s and will meet England in a knockout match of the T20 World Cups for the first time at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.

"It's important not to get ahead of ourselves and we do understand as well that we have to play good cricket to win that game, which we have done in this tournament. We just need to stick to it," said Rohit in the pre-match press conference.

Though Rohit acknowledged that India are two steps away from ending a nine-year wait for a World Cup trophy, he added that India would stick to what had worked for them in the tournament till now. "It's an opportunity for us to come and do that (get the silverware). But we do understand it's been a long process for us and we will stick to our process.

"I know we are (a) long way away from it (winning the trophy). But I think it's important to understand that it's a contest between bat and ball, which we have to come out on top with and trust what you have been doing so far."

On Tuesday, India had a mini-scare when Rohit was hit on the forearm while batting in the optional practice session. He looked in pain and received immediate medical attention, forcing him to stop batting for around 45 minutes.

But by the time the nets session ended, Rohit was back to decently batting in the nets. Talking about the blow in the nets, Rohit said he was fine to play in the semifinal. "Yes, I was hit yesterday. It seems to be fine now. There was a little bruising and it's absolutely fine now."

India had met England in a three-match away bilateral series in July, where Rohit & Co emerged victorious by 2-1. The right-handed opener felt that the previous series win over their semifinal opponents earlier in the year would give Indian team a huge confidence, but was quick to remind that Thursday's match would be a fresh start for the team as bearings of the past wouldn’t matter much.

"Certainly, going into the game, it will give us some confidence because beating a team like England in England, it's a big challenge and we overcame that challenge pretty well. But again we do understand the dynamics of the T20 game. You just have to be good on that particular day, otherwise it's not good enough. Certainly, the guys will have some confidence going into tomorrow's game.

"Also, a lot of the guys who have played in that series, are not part of this team and a lot of people in the team right now didn't play in that series. For us in the back of our mind, we can have that confidence knowing that we did pretty well against them.

"But tomorrow's game is going to be a fresh game. We have to be good on that day in terms of skills and need to be better than them to come out on top. All those records of the past, I don't think it's going to matter too much.

"It's just that you can carry that confidence with you. But again, we need to start fresh and think about tomorrow with fresh mind. We can't go into the game thinking that we have beaten this team and it can happen again just like that.

"We do need to play well to win the game because these guys (England) are quite dangerous and have played some really good cricket in the tournament as well, which is why they are here. We got to be at our best to win the game." IANS

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