Team India are likely to shift focus from skipper Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli as they look to build a fresh unit for the 2024 T20 World Cup. India’s wait for the second T20 World Cup title continued as they crashed out of the tournament in the semi-finals losing to the eventual winners England.
Head coach Rahul Dravid didn’t comment on the future of senior cricketers after India’s defeat against England. While he stayed mum on the issue, a report in PTI the board could hand Hardik Pandya the captaincy for a much longer duration than anticipated before as the seniors could focus on Tests and ODIs.
The report also mentioned that the board will not force anyone to take retirement but slowly and gradually they will faze out the senior players from T20Is and will field a fresh side for the 2024 T20 World Cup.
“The BCCI never asks anyone to retire. It is an individual decision. But yes, with just a handful of T20Is scheduled in 2023, most of the seniors will concentrate on ODIs and Test matches in that cycle,” a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
“You don’t need to announce retirement if you don’t want to. You will not see most of the seniors playing T20 next year,” the source added.
BCCI likely to appoint a specialist T20 coach
Team India head coach Rahul Dravid, who is currently in charge of all three departments, could have his workload shared by a specialist coach for the T20I side.
While it is too early to confirm the developments, the BCCI has its eyes set on the upcoming ICC events. The official line though is that the team is not willing to publicly discuss the succession plan, yet.
“It’s too early to talk about it right now just after a semi-final game. These guys have been terrific performers for us. Like you said, we have a couple of years to reflect on it,” Dravid had said after the semifinal loss in Australia.
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