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Jay Shah (Source: Twitter)
In a significant announcement, Jay Shah, the Secretary of the Indian Cricket Board, announced the leadership group for the upcoming T20I World Cup 2024. He expressed confidence in Rohit Sharma's leadership, declaring him as the captain for the upcoming event in Barbados. The statement was made at the renaming ceremony of the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium to Niranjan Shah Stadium, with Rohit Sharma, coach Rahul Dravid, and selector Ajit Agarkar in attendance.
Shah, in his post-event comments, elaborated on the decision, citing Rohit's captaincy experience across formats and his remarkable comeback in the T20I series against Afghanistan. Despite being out of T20Is for 14 months, Rohit showcased his prowess with a match-winning 121* and played a crucial role in securing victory in a double Super-Over encounter.
He said, “We may have lost the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup. But we won hearts thereby 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.”
Watch Jay Shah’s comments here:
Jay Shah talking about on India wins the heart in 2023 World Cup and 2024 T20 World Cup.
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) February 14, 2024
- He said "India will lift the T20 World Cup under Rohit Sharma". pic.twitter.com/tC0Awun0Ix
“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.
Hardik Pandya to be Rohit’s deputy!
Jay Shah further explained the lack of alternatives for T20I captaincy after Hardik Pandya's World Cup injury and confirmed Pandya as Rohit's deputy. Emphasizing Rohit's leadership qualities, Shah highlighted the skipper's ability to guide the team from a challenging position, as seen in the Afghanistan series.
“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 was 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.
On Virat Kohli's return to T20Is, Shah stated that discussions about his inclusion in the T20 World Cup squad would happen soon. Addressing Kohli's absence from the ongoing Test series and personal leave request, Shah asserted the importance of trusting and supporting players, acknowledging Kohli's significant contribution to Indian cricket.
The T20 World Cup 2024, jointly hosted by the West Indies and the United States, is scheduled to commence on June 1. India, placed in Group A with Pakistan, Ireland, Canada, and the USA, will kick off their campaign against Ireland on June 5 in New York. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super-Eights stage, setting the stage for an exciting tournament.