It is always exciting to play Pakistan: Rohit Sharma

The Asia Cup 2018 will prove to be the first and probably only stage this year when the two arch-rivals India and Pakistan face-off. It is a rare occasion that the two teams play each other and thus has a lot of value in the cricketing community and among the fans as well. For the players, they like to keep it simple and treat it as just another game. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma echoed similar views ahead of the start of Asia Cup.

All the six captains interacted with the media on the eve of the opening encounter of the tournament. Rohit was asked about the match between the neighbours and he said that everyone is looking forward to it. The team wants to take it one game at a time and first focus on the match against Hong Kong and then move to the next challenge.

“I am sure everyone is looking forward to it, but we will just focus on the match at hand. It is always exciting to play Pakistan, they have been great lately and have played very good cricket,” Rohit said when asked about the India-Pakistan match that is scheduled for September 19.

Regular skipper Virat Kohli was rested for the Asia Cup and thus Rohit will be leading the Men in Blue. The last time he led the team was in the Nidhas Trophy in Sri Lanka and they emerged victorious. During the interaction, he also mentioned that Pakistan has been playing good cricket of late and they are excited about the prospect of facing them in the high voltage encounter.

“It is always exciting to play Pakistan. They are a great nation. They have been playing good cricket, off late. We are looking forward to that clash but again there are other teams here as well who are eying for the title. The games played here will be quite competitive. The focus should be on the whole tournament as everyone is here for the title,” he said.

While playing in the UAE, the climate is a huge factor and the heat will definitely play its part. Most players in the Indian squad were in England before this and the huge contrast in weather even from that back home takes a lot of time getting used to.

“Climate is not so pleasant for sure. Exactly the reason we wanted to come a little earlier and get accustomed to the conditions,” the Indian captain said.

Here is the video of the press conference:

#WATCH: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Hong Kong& Afghanistan captains address media in Dubai ahead of Asi… https://t.co/j3na7P7T5p

— ANI (@ANI) September 14, 2018

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