Before the Sunday, August 28, match between India and Pakistan, Indian captain Rohit Sharma appeared at a press conference when he was questioned about his opening partner. The Pakistani journalist asked specifically whether India would see any adjustments with KL Rahul’s recovery and Virat’s return to the starting lineup, as well as some unexpected batting positions for the players.
Pakistani journalist: “Pichle kuch series mein India ne naye naye combinations try kie hai. Kabhi Pant aa rahe hai, kabhi Suryakumar Yadav aa rahe hai. Wo sirf isilie tha kyuki KL Rahul nahi the. AB jab wo wapas aa gaye hai toh apne jagah pe wahi ayenge ya kal aapke saath koi naya opening partner dekhne ko milega? (In the last few series we saw India experiment a lot with their opening pair. Sometimes it was Pant, sometimes it was Suryakumar Yadav but it was mainly because of KL Rahul’s absence but now that he is back will he get his spot back straightaway?”
Rohit Sharma: “Aap dekh lijie kal toss k baad kaun ayega. Thoda toh secret humko bhi rakhne do yaar. (You will get to see after toss tomorrow. Let us keep some secrets at least). We have decided to try new things. Some will work, some won’t. There’s no harm in trying. You won’t get answers if you don’t try. Whenever we get opportunities, we try new things. As far as the combination is concerned, you’ll get to know tomorrow only but we, as a team, have decided to keep trying new things. We’ve got a lot of answers in the last six-eight months and that has happened only because we have tried new things.”