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Hardik Pandya (left) & Rohit Sharma (Source: X)
India's quest for a major international tournament trophy continues and they aim to end it in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024. They came very close to glory in the 2023 ODI World Cup but suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the final. However, Indian Cricket Board Secretary Jay Shah, while revealing the captain of the ship, is confident that the Men in Blue will lift their second title in the shortest format.
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In what can be termed a major development in Indian cricket, the Honourable Secretary announced that Rohit Sharma will lead the team in the marquee event. His revelation came at the renaming ceremony of the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium to Niranjan Shah Stadium, with Rohit, head coach Rahul Dravid, and chairman of men’s senior selection committee Ajit Agarkar in attendance.
“We may have lost the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup. But we won hearts there by 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,” Shah said.
“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,” he added.
Watch the video below:
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
Notably, Rohit made his return to T20Is during the three-match home series against Afghanistan in January. He stayed away from the shorter format for almost 14 months since India's 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final exit. The veteran opener did not have a good start in his comeback as he suffered two ducks. However, he responded with a blistering century in the final match, becoming the first player in history to score five T20I hundreds.
Jay Shah declares Hardik Pandya as Rohit's deputy
Jay Shah mentioned that India currently have not many captaincy options and that was evident when Hardik Pandya was injured in the ODI World Cup. He further said that Pandya, who held the captaincy when Rohit was away from the format, will be the vice-captain of Team India in the T20 World Cup. Shah also praised Rohit's excellent captaincy throughout the premier 50-over tournament despite India's loss in the final against Australia.
“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 were 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.