ICC T20 World Cup 2024: Can Spin Heavy India Turn Up?

The ICC T20 World Cup 2024 is starting from June 1. The event will be held in the West Indies and USA until June 29. 20 teams are set to take part, and all eyes will be on India under the leadership of Rohit Sharma. India are placed in Group A alongside...

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The ICC T20 World Cup 2024 is starting from June 1. The event will be held in the West Indies and USA until June 29. 20 teams are set to take part, and all eyes will be on India under the leadership of Rohit Sharma. India are placed in Group A alongside hosts USA, Canada, Ireland and Pakistan. One expects India to reach the Super 8s, where the actual action will begin before the knockouts. India have done reasonably well in ICC tournaments of late but what the trophy is elusive. India lost the 2023 World Cup final (50 overs), and fans hope the side will go the distance this time around.

This is the ninth T20 World Cup and India have been part of two finals (2007 and 2014). They won the inaugural edition but lost to Sri Lanka in 2014. The last World Cup edition in 2022 saw India lose in the semis.

Earlier, India picked up a decent 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup. One major question was the absence of a fourth seamer. India left out pacers Avesh Khan and Khaleel Ahmed as standbys and didn’t go with any unique additions looking at the 2024 Indian Premier League season. Another hard-hitting call was the presence of Hardik Pandya and the absence of Rinku Singh. India opted for a heavy-spin attack, with skipper Rohit admitting that it was his call. Fair to say India have made their assumption on the surfaces in WI and the USA.

A LOOK AT INDIA’S 15-MEMBER ICC T20 WORLD CUP SQUAD

SQUAD: Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya (vice Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.