In a big development, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah declared that Rohit Sharma will lead India at the upcoming T20 World Cup.
“We may have lost the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup. 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 at Barbados,” Shah said during his address 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 chairman of men’s senior selection committee Ajit Agarkar. After the event got over, the BCCI secretary spoke in detail about the decision to give the charge to Rohit for the T20 World Cup.
“Rohit was captaining (in the past and in other formats) and he came back for the Afghanistan series after a year, which means we were going to let him continue forward,” said Shah.
Rohit had not featured in the T20Is for 14 months but made his return to the format in January for the series against Afghanistan. The skipper had a miserable start to the series as he didn’t manage to get off the mark in first two fixtures but responded with a brilliant 121* in the third T20I.
With the match going down to a double Super-Over, he also scored 13 in the first iteration and 11 in the second to help India secure the win.
Pandya to be VC
Shah further explained that there weren’t any available options for T20I captaincy after Hardik injured himself in the World Cup. The BCCI secretary said Pandya continues to be in the leadership group and will be Rohit’s deputy.
“Hardik Pandya will definitely be the vice-captain. When Hardik was injured in the World Cup, who else can we give the captaincy? 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, as I said, we won ten games in the ODI World Cup. We didn’t win the final, but it’s part and parcel of the game. Whoever plays better, wins,” said Shah.
For the series against Afghanistan, it wasn’t just Rohit who made a return to T20Is after a long gap. Virat Kohli too featured in the last two T20Is as he opted out of the series opener due to “personal reasons”. The former India captain managed 29 and a duck in his two outings and when asked whether Kohli would make the T20 World Cup squad too, Shah said, “we will talk about him (soon)”.
On Kohli’s unavailability in the ongoing Test series, Shah didn’t give any details and said, “If a person, for the first time in a 15-year career, asks for personal leave, it’s his right. Virat is not a player who will ask for leave for no reason. We need to trust our player and back him.”
Dravid to stay as coach till T20 World Cup
Coach Rahul Dravid’s contract with the Indian cricket team ended after the ODI World Cup but he was asked to continue by the BCCI. The contract extension is yet to be finalised as back-to-back series haven’t allowed Shah to have a discussion with the former Indian captain. While the discussion is likely to happen soon, Shah confirmed that Dravid will be the coach for the T20 World Cup.
“After 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 the function today. I will speak to him for sure whenever we get the time but he will be the coach for the T20 World Cup,” said Shah.
The T20 World Cup 2024 will be jointly hosted by the West Indies and the United States of America starting on June 1. The Indian team will start their campaign against Ireland on June 5 in New York. India have been grouped with Pakistan, Ireland, Canada and the USA in Group A. The top two sides will make it through to the Super-Eights.
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