Fortune favours the brave, says Rohit ahead of semis

MUMBAI: Over the past few weeks, his team has transformed into an unstoppable force vanquishing everyone on its path to glory. But, in Wednesday’s World Cup semifinal against New Zealand, India skipper Rohit Sharma also wants “luck to favour” his squad.

“Now, the time has come that you need a little bit of luck as well to favour you, go your way. Obviously, we are going to be brave enough. And hopefully, fortune favours the brave,” Rohit said on the eve of the big-ticket game.

Rohit said the host will not be required to make big changes in regards to its mindset and approach just because it is headed into the semifinal clash.

India has been the most dominant team in this World Cup having won all its nine league matches to finish at the top of the points table and will face the Kiwis at the Wankhede Stadium in the first semifinal.

“(In) the first (half) of the tournament, if you see, I think we chased the first five games and then the next four games we batted first. In terms of the areas that we wanted to cover, we have covered almost every bit of it,” Rohit told the media here before India’s only training session ahead of the semifinal game.

“But again, like I said, we do understand the importance of this week, but for us I do not think we need to do anything different from what we’ve been doing in this tournament,” he said. The captain said pressure has always been a part of the journey for them as Indian cricketers and it will be no different when they take the field for the semifinal.

“Be it a league match or semifinal, the pressure is always there in a World Cup match. We have handled it well from the first game to the last. The team has responded well,” Rohit said. “We are focusing on playing good cricket in the next two games. Pressure is always there on us as Indian cricketers. The need is to focus on the game and not on the pressure and challenges from the other side,” he added.