The wait for an ICC title, which has been going on since 2013, has not ended even after 10 years in 2023 and now again the Indian cricket team, holding on to expectations, has set its sights on the next tournament. India will also enter as a contender for the title in the 20-team T20 World Cup in June 2024, as it happens every time. Will the result be the same as it has been happening every time for the last 10 years? The kind of players that Team India has, there is hope for the title, but the confusion that has been prevailing for the last few days is raising questions.
Contrary to expectations, the Indian team had to face defeat from Australia in the World Cup final on 19 November at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. With that defeat, another opportunity to win the title had also slipped away. There was not much discussion on the result of this final because the team management and BCCI were busy preparing for the T20 World Cup. Amidst these preparations, some news has come which is raising many questions.
Confusion regarding captaincy
First of all, the question remains that who will be the captain? Since the last T20 World Cup, Hardik Pandya was captaining the team in this format in place of Rohit Sharma. It was believed that Rohit would not play in the next T20 World Cup and Hardik would lead the team. Rohit’s performance as captain and batsman in the World Cup 2023 has changed the situation. There are reports that the selection committee and the board want to keep Rohit as the captain. Still, the board has not yet made any announcement regarding this. Now the question is that if Rohit is not successful in IPL just before the World Cup, will the board give this responsibility to Hardik?
What will happen to Kohli?
Along with captaincy, the big discussion is about the place of star batsman Virat Kohli. This issue was also discussed during the team selection for the South Africa tour and in some reports it has been said that the selectors do not seem to be in a mood to select Kohli for this World Cup. The selectors believe that Kohli’s game at number three is not aggressive as per T20 and in such a situation, they are in favor of giving this role to Ishan Kishan, who can do this work. Kohli was the highest run-scorer in the last T20 World Cup and the last ODI World Cup. Will it be the right decision to remove an experienced batsman like him? If Kohli performs well in IPL, will he still be ignored?
Questions on the place of these players
Apart from these, there is confusion regarding the place of some other players. Has the selection committee decided not to select India’s most successful bowler Yuzvendra Chahal in T20 International? This is indicating that Chahal did not get a place in the South Africa series. The biggest question is about Akshar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja. Akshar has emerged as a better option in this format but he too was not selected for this series, while Jadeja has been made the vice-captain. Apart from these, the situation regarding the place of players like Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson and Deepak Chahar also does not seem clear.
