Conditions in the UAE are not going to be easy: Rohit Sharma

India recently completed their campaign on English soil and now are gearing up to weave their magic in the upcoming 2018 Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Their first match is against Hong Kong, who lost their first match against Pakistan, at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The Men in Blue lost their last ODI series against the Three Lions and will be hoping to make amends.

Virat Kohli, their regular captain, won’t be a part of the multi-nation tournament and Rohit Sharma has been named as the skipper of India. In the meantime, Rohit admitted that the event is expected to be a challenge for some of their players who played the Test series on English soil. Moreover, the 31-year-old isn’t ready to undermine their opponent by any means.

We have to focus on that rather than the conditions

“I think for us, as a team, obviously a lot of the guys have come from England so for them, it’s going to be a challenge. For the rest of us, we’ve been here for four days and I can say that we are very much used to the conditions.

But still, without a doubt, it’s going to be tough. We’re treating each team as equals. We’re not looking at the opposition, we’re looking at what we want to do as a team and improve as a team. There are a lot of games coming up for us including the big World Cup,” Rohit was quoted as saying to the reporters in Dubai.

The weather in the UAE has been taxing for the players owing to the heat and Rohit don’t want the same to hinder their performance. “It is important to focus as a team on what we want to do. If you do that, all the worries [and] issues will take care of itself. Conditions are not going to be that easy, but its game time now and we have to focus on that rather than the conditions,” the 31-year-old added.

After playing Anshuman Rath and Co, the Men in Blue are scheduled to lock horns with Pakistan at the same venue in the tournament’s marquee clash on the very next day. India are the defending champions and are rightly deemed as one of the favourites to win the championship.

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