Team India will return to action on Thursday when it takes on the West Indies in the first of three-match ODI series in Barbados. The side enjoyed a 1-0 series win in Tests against West Indies, with the second and final match of the series ending in a draw after the final day's play was washed out. The side will play in its first ODI since March earlier this year, when it took on Australia in a three-match rubber; Rohit Sharma's men had then lost 1-2 at home. This time, though, India face a West Indies team that endured a rough last month when it failed to qualify for the 2023 World Cup.
India had a comfortable outing in the West Indies Tests and even though the second match ended in a draw, one of the major positives from the game was Virat Kohli smashing his first overseas red-ball century in nearly five years. The last time Kohli hit a Test ton on away soil was in December 2018 at Perth, and the star batter smashed a brilliant 121 before his innings was cut short by a run out.
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Interestingly, Kohli had also scored his first Test ton in over three months during the series against Australia earlier this year. Furthermore, he endured a three-year long international spell without a century to his name between 2019-2022. Kohli's lack of three-figure mark had remained a major talking point throughout this time – particularly after India's return to cricketing action following Covid pandemic in 2020.
As the India batter raked up another century in the West Indies, captain Rohit Sharma was asked about the importance of players like Kohli reaching three-figure marks. A reporter asked Rohit on whether there were concerns about Kohli's lack of tons, and whether there were conversations over the same. The Indian skipper, who has addressed the question on multiple occasions in the past, insisted that the team doesn't care about “outside noises.”
{{/usCountry}}As the India batter raked up another century in the West Indies, captain Rohit Sharma was asked about the importance of players like Kohli reaching three-figure marks. A reporter asked Rohit on whether there were concerns about Kohli's lack of tons, and whether there were conversations over the same. The Indian skipper, who has addressed the question on multiple occasions in the past, insisted that the team doesn't care about “outside noises.”
{{/usCountry}}“I've answered this question a lot of times. All the outside talk, who scored how many, took how many wickets... people who say such things don't know what happens inside. For us, what happens inside stays inside. We prefer that. For us, the most important is to win matches, not who's talking what. It doesn't matter to us,” Rohit said in the press conference.
“Our priority is the three ODI matches right now, we're focussing on that,” he further said.
Following the three-ODI series, India will take on the Windies in five T20Is, where Hardik Pandya will lead the side. Both, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli continue to remain absent from both formats.