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Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma (Source: Twitter)
India's hopes of ending their drought of winning a major trophy ended with their ODI World Cup final defeat against Australia and the target has now shifted to the T20 World Cup. With the premier 20-over tournament to be held in the West Indies and the USA in less than six months, the Indian Cricket Board has already started preparations.
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However, some questions remain to be answered about who will captain the Men in Blue in the mega event and whether Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will participate. Both the batting icons of Indian cricket have not played a single T20I match since losing in the 2022 World Cup semi-final. A young squad led by Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav is currently representing the country in the shortest format.
To manage their workload, Rohit and Kohli are not participating in the ongoing white-ball leg of the tour of South Africa. Both the veterans will play in the two-match Test series starting on December 26. With the duo's future uncertain, legendary South African cricketer AB de Villiers has backed them to feature in the T20 World Cup.
"We just have to see them there (Rohit & Virat). It's all about their hunger. Do they have the hunger to go there and win the T20 World Cup? I think so. I cannot speak on their behalf but I think they will want to go there and win. T20 World Cup is a short tournament and you do set yourselves up to have another chance of winning a World Cup. So I do see them going there," De Villiers said on his YouTube channel.
De Villiers likes the move to make Suryakumar Yadav captain
India appointed Suryakumar Yadav as interim T20 captain in the absence of injured Hardik Pandya. His troops defeated Australia 4-1 in the five-match series and drew the three-match series against South Africa 1-1. Notably, Surya was the Player of the Series in the contest against the Proteas. De Villiers had earlier commented on the move to make the middle-order batter the captain of India.
"India captained by Suryakumar Yadav is quite a nice move, I like that. He is a bit of a 360-degree) player. He thinks differently and is a bit creative. It will be nice to watch him lead his troops in South Africa," the former South Africa skipper said.