Our target is to win WTC and Champions Trophy: Jay Shah

On June 29 (Saturday), the Indian team broke their 11-year-long drought for an ICC title with a closely fought seven-run win over South Africa in the final of the T20 World Cup 2024 in Barbados. India became the only team in T20 World Cup history to go through an entire edition undefeated. 

Now that the T20 World Cup is sealed, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)’s Secretary Jay Shah insisted that the team’s focus will now be on winning both the World Test Championship and the Champions Trophy. India are currently the top-ranked side in the ongoing WTC edition, with 68.52 PCT, ahead of Australia’s 62.50. 

"I would want India to win all the titles. We have the biggest bench strength, only three players from this team are going to Zimbabwe. We can field three teams if the need arises," Jay Shah said, reported ESPNCricinfo. 

"The way this team is progressing, our target is to win the World Test Championship final and Champions Trophy. There will be a similar squad playing there. The seniors will be there."

Amidst speculation of the new head coach, Shah confirmed that the appointment will be made shortly. However, VVS Laxman, who heads the National Cricket Academy (NCA), will oversee the upcoming Zimbabwe tour as the head coach, a similar arrangement to when India travelled to Ireland last year. 

"Both coach and selector appointments will be made shortly. CAC has interviewed and shortlisted two names, and after reaching Mumbai, whatever they have decided, we will go by that. VVS Laxman is going to Zimbabwe but a new coach will join from the Sri Lanka series,” Shah confirmed the imminent appointment of the new head coach. 

After India’s loss at the hands of Australia in the 2023 ODI World Cup final, there were widespread speculations that Hardik Pandya could lead the Indian side at the global tournament in the Caribbean. However, Shah put all those rumours to rest when he confirmed that Rohit Sharma would continue to skipper the side. 

In the aftermath of a sweet win in Barbados, Shah insisted that Rohit and Virat Kohli's experience helped the side. 

"It was the same captain last year and same here in Barbados. We won all games except the final in 2023 [ODI World Cup] as Australia played better. This time we worked even harder and played better to win the title," Shah said. 

"If you look at other teams, experience counts. From Rohit to Virat, all excelled. Experience makes a lot of difference. In World Cups, you can't experiment much also. A good player knows when to say goodbye to the game, we saw that yesterday. You look at Rohit's strike rate, it is better than a lot of young players."

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