The schedule for the T20 World Cup 2024 was released by the ICC earlier this month. The tournament will be played from June 1 to 29 across nine venues in the USA and the West Indies. This will be the first time that a senior men’s major ICC tournament will be hosted by the USA
The team on which everyone’s eyes will remain once again is India, who will aim for a second T20 world title since winning the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007. India, who recently lost the World Cup 2023 final at home, will also once again aim to end their decade-long ICC trophy drought.
Talking about India’s team for the T20 World Cup 2024, it has now been made all but certain that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will play in the tournament, with Rohit leading the side.
The BCCI recently announced the squad for India to host Afghanistan in a 3 T20I series. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have made their return in the T20I side after a gap of over 13 months. Rohit is also named the captain. And while Hardik Pandya has replaced him as the Mumbai Indians skipper, the BCCI is very likely to stick with Sharma as their skipper for the T20 WC 2024.
This means that only two of Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Ruturaj Gaikwad will be selected in the T20 World Cup squad. Ishan Kishan seems to have dropped out of favor as India look for a middle-order wicket-keeper, and Kishan mostly has had his success in the top three.
Samson and Jitesh are now the keeping choices. The IPL 2024 will be crucial for both these players. And also for the likes of Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul, both of whom are not selected for the Afghanistan series. A left-field choice could be Rishabh Pant, but he will have to prove his fitness and form in the IPL.
Axar seems to pip over Jadeja for the number 7 position on the back of his improved hitting prowess. Shami is once again likely to make the squad, while the likes of Rinku Singh and Ravi Bishnoi could be in line to feature in their maiden ICC tournament with the senior side.
Predicting India’s Strongest XI For T20 World Cup 2024:
- Rohit Sharma (C)
- Shubman Gill/Yashasvi Jaiswal
- Virat Kohli
- Suryakumar Yadav
- Hardik Pandya
- Sanju Samson/Jitesh Sharma (wk)
- Axar Patel/Ravindra Jadeja
- Kuldeep Yadav
- Jasprit Bumrah
- Mohammed Siraj
- Ravi Bishnoi/Shami
Backups: Rinku Singh, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Washington Sundar
VIRAT KOHLI IS BACK IN T20I….!!!
– King is back for some unfinished business in T20I World Cup. 🐐 pic.twitter.com/M9tMrWZ7IP
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) January 7, 2024
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