ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024: Team India, under the leadership of hard hitting opener Rohit Sharma are all set to initiate their quest of lifting their first ICC – trophy in eleven years, as they step on the field for their 2024 T20 World Cup campaign from 5th June when they take on Ireland in their opening encounter. The Indians have already announced their squad for this year’s mega event, with 15 players finding a spot in the main squad and four members traveling as reserve players.
The 15 member squad sees the return of some of the biggest names in Indian Cricket in the form of Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya and some shocking decisions have been made as well as the likes of Shubman Gill and Rinku Singh are a part of the reserves. With the squad revealed, we will be taking a look at the Men in Blue’s strongest possible playing for the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Skipper Rohit Sharma will be captaining the Indian team and is pretty much fixed to open the inning for the Men in Blue. Alongside Rohit, everyone will be anticipating Yashasvi Jaiswal to open the innings but in our opinion, Virat Kohli will be the go to option for the second opener’s slot. He has played a ton of matches as an opener for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and has been successful in the current edition of the IPL as well as he has scored 500 runs so far in IPL 2024, including a hundred. A lot of people are criticizing Kohli for his low strike rate in the shortest format of the game but the strike rate debate is pretty useless as the 2007 T20 World Cup winners will require someone to hold one end till the end of their inning and Kohli is a master in that role. Holding one end especially in the USA and the West Indies is going to be really important, considering the slow nature of the wickets.
If Kohli opens the innings for India alongside Rohit, then the number three spot will be up for grabs and the world’s number one T20i batter will be the perfect choice for that position. He’s someone who can attack from the first ball and his 360 degree batting strokes are a treat to watch and when SKY comes out to bat, the opposition bowlers just get smacked to all parts of the ground.
The number four spot is likely to be occupied by Sanju Samson. If the Rohit Sharma led team lose some wickets early on in the innings, Samson can come to bat and just stabilize the innings with his balanced batting. He knows how to play according to the situation and he’s also in a rich vein of form in IPL 2024, so he can definitely play a crucial role in India’s success in the 2024 T20 World Cup.
At number five, the Men in Blue should go with dynamic batter Shivam Dube. His ability to hit sixes at will against the spinners in the middle phase of the innings makes a really important player and he has had a lot of success in the IPL for the Chennai Super Kings at number five. The 30 year old can also be asked to bowl an over or two if needed and Rohit Sharma can use Dube as the X factor for the Indian Cricket Team in the World Cup.
The wicket keeper batter role will be played by Rishabh Pant and he will be anticipated to bat at number six. His dynamic batting can take apart even the best bowling unit in the world and the number six position will suit him perfectly. Hardik Pandya and Jadeja will be the two all rounders for the Indians and they will come out to bat at number seven and eight respectively. Both of them can play the role of the finishers perfectly and their presence in the starting lineup will also extend the batting order of the Rohit Sharma led team.
Star pacer Jasprit Bumrah will be seen leading the pace bowling unit along with left arm seamer Arshdeep Singh. Both of them are world class bowlers and they have the ability to bowl in any situation, thereby making them a deadly fast bowling duo. Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav will be handling the spin bowling duties along with Ravindra Jadeja.
India’s strongest playing 11 for the 2024 T20 World Cup:
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma (Captain), Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav.
India’s squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup:
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma (Captain), Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Suraj, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Reserve players: Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan, Shubman Gill and Rinku Singh
READ: Pakistan announce their squad for the T20I series against England and Ireland