India captain Rohit Sharma has been outspoken about how the team’s leadership and players ignore “outside noise” and when questioned about Virat Kohli’s test performance, he responded in the same way. India will take on West Indies in the opening ODI of three-match series here at Kensington Oval on Thursday. After nearly five years of overseas Test century drought, Kohli scored a century in the second Test in Trinidad.

Rohit, meanwhile, is unconcerned with what is being said publicly about Kohli’s or any other player’s performance. He discussed external criticism with the media prior to India’s first ODI matchup against the West Indies.

“Look I have answered this question a number of times. We don’t focus too much on what is being said on the outside as they don’t know what conversations we have within the team and we would like to keep it that way. Our focus remains on how to get the best out of every individual in the team and how to help the team win games and series. Now our focus is on the three one-dayers and giving players chances so I would want to keep myself involved with that,” Rohit said in a pre-match presentation.

“There are quite a few players in the team who have played so much cricket that they need not be told everything. They are more than capable of understanding their game and you need not go and tell them every single detail. Our job is to make the new players comfortable and help them get the best out of themselves. Our focus is only on those things that could be for the betterment of the team,” the India captain further added.

Rohit is aware that several players are vying for positions that would enable them to compete in the ODI World Cup in India in October of this year. He discussed the significance of job clarity as well as how the team management selects the players who would ultimately make the World Cup fixture.

“It’s certainly a challenge because a number of players are fighting for a few spots. We have so many options be it batters or bowlers. So it is difficult for a captain and coach but it is just not me who goes through this as other teams also have to do this. What we see is who is able to perfectly fit the role that we are looking for. We look for those players who can fill the holes in the team by performing in the specific role,” Rohit said.