[ad_1]
In a big development, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah declared that Rohit Sharma will lead India in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
“We may have lost the final of the ODI World Cup 2023. But we won hearts there by winning 10 matches in a row. I would like to say that I am confident that India will lift the 2024 T20 World Cup under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy in Barbados,” Shah said during his speech at the event to rename the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) Stadium to Niranjan Shah Stadium.
The statement came in the presence of India captain Rohit, coach Rahul Dravid and senior men’s selection committee chairman Ajit Agarkar. After the event was over, the BCCI secretary spoke in detail about the decision to hand over the charge to Rohit for the World T20.
“Rohit was the captain (in the past and in other formats) and he returned for the Afghanistan series after a year, which means we were going to let him move on,” Shah said.
Rohit had not featured in T20Is for 14 months but returned to the format in January for the series against Afghanistan. The captain had a miserable start to the series as he failed to hit the mark in the first two matches but responded with a brilliant 121* in the third T20I.
With the match becoming a double Super-Over, he also scored 13 in the first iteration and 11 in the second to help India secure victory.
Pandya to be VC
Shah further explained that there were no options available for T20I captaincy after Hardik got injured in the World Cup. The BCCI secretary said Pandya is still in the leadership group and will be Rohit’s deputy.
“Hardik Pandya will definitely be the vice-captain. When Hardik got injured in the World Cup, who else can we give the captaincy to? In the third T20I against Afghanistan, India were 22/4 and the way Rohit Sharma took the team to 212/4, we can’t question much about him, right? He has the ability, like I said, we won ten games in the ODI World Cup. We didn’t win the final, but it’s part of the game. Whoever plays better, he wins,” Shah stated.
For the series against Afghanistan, it was not just Rohit who returned to the T20Is after a long gap. Virat Kohli also featured in the last two T20Is as he opted out of the series opener due to “personal reasons”. The former India captain scored 29 and a duck in his two outings and was asked if Kohli would also be part of the T20 World Cup squad. Shah said, “we will talk about him (soon).”
On Kohli’s unavailability in the ongoing Test series, Shah did not give any details and said, “If a person, for the first time in 15 years of career, applies for personal leave, he is entitled. Virat is not a player who asks for leave without any reason. “We need to trust our player and back him.”
“After the World Cup, Rahul Dravid went to South Africa and we couldn’t meet. There have been back-to-back series and I met him after a long time at today’s show. I will surely talk to him when we have time, but he will be the World T20 coach,” Shah said.
The T20 World Cup 2024 will be jointly hosted by the West Indies and the United States of America starting June 1. The Indian team will begin its campaign against Ireland on June 5 in New York. India has been grouped with Pakistan, Ireland, Canada and the United States in Group A. The top two teams will make it to the Super Eight.