NEW DELHI: Captain Rohit Sharma is set to lead his team at the ICC T20 World Cup on June 5, seeking to overcome the agony of losing the ODI World Cup title at home last year. This year’s T20 World Cup will be held in USA and West Indies.
India will start their campaign with a match against Ireland on June 5 at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. Aged 36, Rohit hopes to win an ICC trophy which India has not gotten since 2013.
India last won a T20 world cup back in 2007 during the inaugural edition as they beat Pakistan by five runs in the final, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni. They are still holding onto this as India’s only title in its history of the tournament.
Since triumphantly winning the event in 2007, India have reached finals only one out of eight times, losing to Sri Lanka by six wickets and becoming runners-up in Bangladesh in a contest that was held four years later.
Can Rohit this time around take India to an ICC title?
Shikhar Dhawan, India’s key player believes so that Rohit will secure victory along with his team mates.
“Of course there is lot of pressure when you play for India especially during World Cups and then Rohit is an experienced guy whom I’m sure would use it well because he knows how to deal with pressure and certainly we would do pretty well,” Shikhar told TimesofIndia.com exclusively.
“It’s great seeing Shivam Dube, Yuzi (Yuzvendra Chahal), Sanju (Samson) getting their deserved spot into this ICC tournament and we got very balanced side also we have been playing some really good cricket. Good luck team India and we all are barking behind you guys,” added the veteran batsman.
VIRAT KOHLI THE CHASE MASTER
Virat Kohli has been outstanding in the last two ICC events, i.e., the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 and the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. In both tournaments he finished as the highest run scorer.
In 2022 T20 World Cup, Virat scored 296 runs in six matches at an impressive average of 98.66 with four half-centuries. His unbeaten match-winning knock of 82 against arch-rivals Pakistan was one of the highlights of that tournament.
Virat continued his top form in India’s hosted ICC ODI world cup.
Despite India losing to Australia in the final, Virat was named Man of the Series. He scored three centuries and six fifties throughout the tournament totaling 765 runs from eleven innings at an average of 90.31
Looking for another ICC title, Shikhar thinks Virat will rise again as Team India needs him.
“Aside from Rohit I believe that Virat (Kohli) and Jassi (Jasprit Bumrah) would be very important for Team India’s success in this T20 World Cup,” said Shikhar left-handed opener.”
“Virat is a chase master and when he is on field it demoralizes oppositions already. Jasprit is currently world number one bowler across all three formats and if we win this World Cup; he would be very much responsible for it,” added Shikhar.
“ASHUTOSH AND SHASHANK FUTURE STARS”
Every year IPL introduces new stars and among these future youngsters there are two shining prospects: Punjab Kings’ batsman Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma.
Shashank and Ashutosh have had a good loudness in cricket when it comes to striking the balls out of the park, taking apart any attack, you name it. It is especially seen in their six hitting ability whenever they are on song that has made them a better side for inclusion into the Indian team particularly in shortest form of cricket.
“These guys have been exceptional this season; it’s fantastic to see these young blokes coming through in high-pressure situations. They’ve got a great future ahead of them and they always give you hope that they can finish off those games,” said Shikhar Dhawan.
Speaking about his association with CREX, Shikhar stated “CREX impacts over 100 Million passionate cricket lovers thus empowering cricket as an industry. Fans can get live cricket scores, statistics and tales from each game played round the globe.”
