India captain Rohit Sharma on Wednesday urged his side to keep their focus on "things we can control" ahead of the mega World Cup clash against arch-rival Pakistan, having completed a dominating eight-wicket win over Afghanistan here.
India crushed Afghanistan to record a second victory on the trot in the World Cup with Rohit breaking several records en route a superb 131 off 84 balls.
The hosts reached the second spot in the points table after achieving the victory target of 273 with 15 overs to spare.
Control the controllables
"(It) was a good win for us, very important to get that momentum at the start of the tournament," Rohit said during the post-match presentation.
"For us it is crucial that we don't worry about external factors and just look at things we can control. We just need to show up and do well," Rohit said while talking about India's clash against Pakistan on Saturday in Ahmedabad.
"Things like what the pitch is like, what combo we can play is what we can control. What happens outside we won't be worried about it. It is just about focusing on what we can do as players and how we can perform," the India captain added.
Absorbing the pressure key for hosts India
Rohit said absorbing pressure was a key factor in the first game for India in this World Cup. After being reduced to 5/3, India defeated Australia in the first match by six wickets to stamp their authority.
"We have got guys who can play fearless cricket with bat and guys who can absorb like the last game. It is about absorbing pressure and taking the right decision on the field," Rohit said.
"There will be a spell from the opposition where you will have to absorb pressure. Leading up to the tournament, we had played such games.
"We have got players with different skill sets in our team. They bring different attributes of the game to the team and it puts you in good positions as a team when you have that," he added.
Rohit on Wednesday recorded the most number of centuries in World Cup history, surpassing the legendary Sachin Tendulkar during his magnificent 131 against Afghanistan here. He also went past West Indies' Chris Gayle (553 sixes across formats) to record most sixes in international cricket across formats.
