Rohit Sharma Press Conference: This Pakistani team is very challenging

India will take on arch-rivals Pakistan on October 23 at the MCG.  In the press conference ahead of the game, Rohit Sharma discussed Mohammad Shami's fitness, the importance of winning the toss, and touring Pakistan for the 2023 Asia Cup.

 "His body was something we wanted to look at. We wanted him to recover. We wanted to give him full four overs in the warm-up game but that didn't quite happen. He looked quite ready in his preparation. It's just about executing now and doing what Shami does." -Rohit Sharma on Mohammad Shami.

The Indian captain also discussed why the Indian squad landed in Australia early. "This was a conscious decision from the BCCI and team management after the last tournament. We knew where the World Cup was happening, so we wanted to come here and get used to the conditions. A lot of the guys in the team had not played before in Australia. That was a key decision. Getting acclimatized to the time zone. I thought the way we prepared in Perth, we were lucky enough to get that time."

He also discussed the significance of winning the toss in crucial matches. "In hindsight, yes it is important. In the morning when I woke up, lot of the buildings were under cloud. And now there's sunshine. So we need to prepare for what we can. If the situation demands it is a shorter game, we'll play according to that. Lot of guys have played in games like that. Luckily we played one game in India against Australia which was an eight-over game."

"My take is let's focus on this World Cup because this is important for us. Whatever happens later, the BCCI will decide." - Indian captain on touring Pakistan in 2023

He also said that Pakistan is a very challenging team " We also know their bowling is very good. And our batters are quite experienced. It becomes a good situation for the match and the viewers. I don't want to use the word, pressure. Because it is constant. This Pakistani team is very challenging. All the Pakistan teams that I've played have been good. It's just about on that day. And that has what happened in the last so many years. Pakistan were good on the day of the T20 World Cup match. They were also good at the Asia Cup."

''I won't say pressure but it has definitely been a challenge for us to perform at the ICC tournaments. We will have to focus to get things right. The last one we won was in 2013. With a team like India, there are a lot of expectations. This tournament gives us a chance of changing that. We don't need to think too much about." - Rohit on India not winning ICC Trophies