NEWS
Follow UsIn a major development, BCCI Secretary Jay Shah has strongly hinted that Rohit Sharma will captain team India at the T20 World Cup in June in the United States & The Caribbean.
18 months ago in Australia, it was Rohit who led India to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2022 but the 36-year-old did not play a single T20I in the entirety of 2023, despite being a regular in the other two formats. During this time, Hardik Pandya, the captain of Gujarat Titans, led India in as many as 11 T20Is and the same led to strong speculations that it would be Pandya - and not Rohit - that will be leading India in the T20 World Cup in June (2024).
Last month against Afghanistan, Rohit returned to the T20I side (as captain) after a 14-month absence but many believed at that time that Rohit was only being asked to lead the side due to Pandya’s injury.
However, less than four months ahead of the T20WC, the BCCI secretary has all but given away that it will be Rohit - and not Pandya - that will lead India in the USA & Caribbean.
“We may have lost the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup. But we won hearts thereby winning 10 matches in a row. I am confident that India will lift the 2024 T20 World Cup under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy at Barbados,” Shah said at an event to unveil the name of Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot, reported News18.
“Rohit was captaining (in the past and other formats) and he came back for the Afghanistan series, which means we were going to let him continue forward.”
Pandya, Shah hinted, will continue to be in a leadership role but will only serve as the vice-captain of the side in the T20WC in June.
Despite Shah’s words, however, there are still doubts over who will captain India in the mega event, due to there being no official confirmation from both the management and the selectors.
Earlier, in December last year, Pandya usurped Rohit as the captain of the Mumbai Indians IPL franchise. The move was believed to be a sign of things to come in the national side, but Shah’s announcement has added a new twist to the captaincy saga.
Not going to tolerate any tantrums
At that same event, Shah also made it clear as daylight that all cricketers, who are requested to go back to the domestic level will have to do it without any tantrums.
“Whatever advice we get from the NCA — say suppose somebody’s body is not able to handle both white-ball and red-ball cricket — so we do not want to impose anything in that regard. (It applies to) whoever is fit and young — we are not going to tolerate any other tantrums. This message is for all centrally contracted players,” Shah said.
“Everyone will have to play, otherwise, the chairman of the selection committee has given me his suggestions and I am going to give him a free hand to let him take his own calls freely,” he added.
Earlier in the series, Virat Kohli made himself unavailable for the first two Tests of the series against England. It was then made clear that Kohli wouldn't be part of the Indian setup for the entire series. Shah backed Kohli, stating that 'personal reasons' should be respected and privacy should be maintained.
“If somebody is asking for a personal leave in 15 years then it is his right to ask for it. Virat is not that kind of a player that he would ask for a leave without any reason. We must back and trust our players."
