Nidahas Trophy 2018: We won’t label ourselves as favourites: Rohit Sharma

Updated - 05 Mar 2018, 09:26 PM

Rohit Sharma addressing the media (Credits: BCCI)

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India skipper Rohit Sharma has made it clear that the team would guard against complacency in the upcoming Nidahas Trophy. The three-nation tournament also featuring Bangladesh is being held to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the hosts Sri Lanka’s independence.

India will lock horns against the hosts in the tournament-opener on Tuesday (March 6) in Colombo. But while the Men in Blue will start the game as favourites, Rohit said the team wouldn’t be labelling themselves as favourites. The skipper cited the unpredictability of the T20 format behind not calling his side the favourites.

“We won’t label ourselves as favourites. The T20 format is unpredictable and you got to be on the money at all times,” he said. “Both our oppositions are strong and we look forward to a good contest,” said Rohit.

The Mumbai batsman is leading the team in the absence of Virat Kohli. The regular skipper along with several other regular players has been rested for the T20 series. The Men in Blue are set to start the tournament as the favourites. Before the forthcoming series, they had defeated South Africa in ODIs and T20Is. Last year, India had inflicted two crushing series defeats on Sri Lanka at home and away. Moreover, India is yet to lose a T20I game under Rohit’s captaincy. India are also the only side in the top four of the ICC T20 Rankings in the tri-series with Sri Lanka eighth and Bangladesh tenth.

Dhoni and Kohli are two of the several regular players rested for the series (Credits: BCCI)

Rohit led the side to a 3-0 win over Sri Lanka in December last year before guiding the team to a series-clinching win in South Africa.

But while form and reputation make India favourites, they should remain cautious. The visitors have rested several key players including Kohli, MS Dhoni, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya.

Rohit further said that it was an honour for him to lead the national team. He also said that he is excited to see how the youngsters would perform.

“It is an honour for me to lead the side and it is going to be no different in this series,” said Rohit. “I am excited to see how this young team performs.”