Virat Kohli Would Be Opening With Rohit Sharma in T20 World Cup 2024!

There was a meeting between BCCI officials, coach Rahul Dravid, chief selector Ajit Agarkar and Rohit Sharma (online) in Delhi in November, right after the ODI World Cup last year. Most of the people in that meeting agreed that Virat Kohli is not a natural contender for a place in the team in the T20 World Cup to be held in America and West Indies in 2024.

Apart from Rohit, Virat did not play any T20 match from the 2022 T20 World Cup till the 2023 ODI World Cup. This year, just before the three-match T20 series against Afghanistan, Virat expressed his desire to play in this format, not only this, he also made himself available for the T20 World Cup, after which the team management was in a dilemma.

Virat Kohli made clear of the controversy

Some top BCCI officials were also reluctant to create controversy by dropping Virat, especially in the election season. Considering Virat’s stature and name, he had given signals to Rohit, Dravid and Ajit Agarkar. After this, Virat achieved the Orange Cap by scoring more than 350 runs including a century in the seven matches of the ongoing IPL.According to sources, some time ago Virat had sought clarity from the team management on his playing in the T20 World Cup.

Last week, at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai, Dravid, Agarkar and Rohit discussed the team going to the World Cup to be held in June. Since Virat plays as an opener in IPL, there was talk about fielding Rohit and Virat as openers in the World Cup.

Problems will increase for two youths

However, in such a situation, Yashasvi Jaiswal will be removed from the final-11. If Rohit-Virat will open, then there was a discussion on who among Yashasvi and Shubman Gill should be taken as alternative opener. When the meeting took place, Gill had the upper hand based on his IPL performance till then.Yashasvi had scored more than 700 runs including two double centuries in the Test series against England. There was also discussion in the meeting about Assam’s young all-rounder Riyan Parag, who performed brilliantly in the IPL. If he maintains his performance in the next few matches, he can also get a place in the 15-member team and catch a flight to America.

The name of Delhi’s young fast bowler Mayank Yadav, who has become a headache for the batsmen with his pace, was also discussed in the meeting, but his injury went against him. The selectors believe that taking Mayank could be a risky decision.

Eyes on Hardik’s bowling

In the meeting, it was made clear to Hardik Pandya that if he wants to make a place in the team, he will have to perform amazingly with his bowling in the remaining IPL matches. The selectors believe that Pandya will return to the team only if he continues to bowl well. Pandya has not bowled consistently in the IPL and has bowled only in four of the six matches.

Team India predicted 11 for T20 2024

Rohit Sharma(C), Virat Kohli, Subhman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Riyan Parag, Rinku Singh, Dhruv Jurel, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Mohammad Siraj.