Head coach Rahul Dravid declined to provide a clear answer to a question about Team India’s opening combination for the 2024 T20 World Cup. He mentioned they have three options: skipper Rohit Sharma, left-hander Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Virat Kohli, who opens in the IPL.
Dravid added that the final decision will be based on the conditions and the preferred team combination. Rohit and Jaiswal partnered as openers for India in the last two T20Is of the home series against Afghanistan earlier this year.
However, several cricket pundits believe that Rohit and Virat should open the batting in the T20 World Cup. During a press conference on Monday, June 3, Indian head coach Dravid was questioned about the team’s probable opening combination for the ongoing ICC event in the West Indies and the USA.
He responded: “We have got options. We are obviously not going to reveal our cards just yet. We have got Rohit and Jaiswal and Virat’s opening in the IPL as well.”
“We’ve picked the team keeping in mind that we did have three options and we could pick and choose what we wanted depending on the conditions, depending on the kind of combination we go into these games with. We’ll see what it’s like, but it’s nice to have some real quality options at the top of the order,” Dravid added.
Both Rohit and Kohli were selected for the Indian T20I squad for the first time since the 2022 T20 World Cup when the squad for the Afghanistan series was announced.
“You can’t deny that we haven’t played well in these tournaments”- Dravid on India not winning ICC events
Just like in previous years, India is once again considered one of the top contenders to win the 2024 T20 World Cup. Despite having exceptional talent in their squad, the Men in Blue haven’t clinched an ICC event since 2013. However, Dravid emphasized that India’s performance in World Cups has been consistently strong.
“We’ve played really well in these World Cups in terms of our consistency – making the semifinals in the T20 World Cup in Australia, playing extremely well in the World Test Championship cycle to get to the final there again and then the 50-over World Cup, where we had a great run and went into the final,” he said.
The 51-year-old acknowledged that they have stumbled at the final stage, which is an aspect they must certainly work on.
“You can’t say that we have not played good cricket in these tournaments. Yes, we haven’t been able to get across the line in the knockout game. We haven’t been able to execute in that last phase. So hopefully we play good cricket to get ourselves into those positions again and then, maybe play good cricket on the day to cross the line,” Rahul Dravid concluded.
India made it to the WTC final and the ODI World Cup final last year but were defeated by Australia in both instances.
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