Indian CS:GO team aims to continue their unbeaten run at World Championships Final

After the first CS:GO major was held in 2013 in Sweden, the game published by Valve turned into a major esports attraction and it still continues to be so.

The upcoming 13^th Esports World Championships Final organised by the International Esports Federation (IESF) will see teams from across the globe fighting it out for the ultimate CS:GO title.

The Bridge caught up with the Indian CS:GO captain aka In-Game Leader (IGL), Ritesh Sarda, about the World Championships Final, their unbeaten run in regional qualifiers and more.

On the team

The team was formed way back around 2017. I along with my friends played at a café in my hometown and that is when we thought of making a team and playing events. My teammate Shuvajyoti and I are the founding member of the team and have been playing together for the last five years. We had many roster shuffles during our journey. The main core has been playing together for two years. The five of us have been playing together for around 1 year.

On their unbeaten run at the Regional qualifiers

We played really well during our regional qualifiers. All our hard work and preparation before the event paid off. We have been grinding more since we won the regional qualifiers and the whole team is putting in extra hours for the upcoming finals. There are many good teams in attendance and we are prepared to give them a tough fight and make our country proud.

On Valorant taking over the CS:GO space

It is true that since Valorant launched almost all the CS:GO pros in India have switched to Valorant. I tried playing Valorant for a while but it did not give the same feeling or the enjoyment I get while playing CS:GO. Also, I have been playing this game for 4-5 years and I think I can give more to it. The love for the game and commitment to do better not only in India but also in Asia made us stick to Counter-Strike.

On the team dynamics

CSGO is all about team play. We like to follow a European style that is based on team play rather than individual gameplay. In Csgo a team mainly requires an In-Game Leader, an Awper, support, an anchor and an entry fragger. In our team, I am the IGL. Shuvajyoti Chakraborty is the entry fragger. Hrishikesh Shenoy is Anchor, Anshul Adarkar is an Awper and Ninad Sonare is Support.

On their normal practice sessions

We start our practice every day around 12:30 pm. We start with our individual practice that includes workshop, deathmatch and utility practice. We then play 1 or 2 scrims. After that, we watch demos and analyse our mistakes and try to resolve our issues. Then players are allowed to play pugs or do whatever they want. Our practise sessions usually last for around 8-9 hours.

On leading the team during a high-pressure situation

In my opinion, a team's temperament is tested only when it is under pressure. With experience, we as a team have learned to perform under pressure. In such a situation, I as the IGL always try to keep calm and boost the morale of my team to lift their confidence. Sometimes frustrations do take over the team and we might not perform to our fullest potential. But I always do my best to avoid such things to happen and try to keep a positive vibe in the team.

On the importance of communication in CS:GO

Communication is the most important part of team play. It does more than 50% of the teamwork. A team with better communication and understanding can work more co-ordinately and make fewer mistakes. We as a team always try to improve our communication.

On sponsors

No, we don't have any sponsors apart from Esports Federation of India (ESFI) for now. They have helped us solve whatever issues we have faced in whatever capacity they could.