Rajkot (Gujarat): Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah on Wednesday asserted that he is confident that India will lift the 2024 T20 World Cup under Rohit Sharma's captaincy at Barbados.
Speaking at the unveiling of the Niranjan Shah Stadium here, formerly known as the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, said, "We may have lost the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup in Ahmedabad. But we won hearts there by winning 10 matches in a row. I want to make a promise that India will lift the 2024 T20 World Cup under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy at Barbados."
"Rohit was captaining (in the past in other formats) and he came back for the Afghanistan series, which means we were going to let him continue forward," Shah told the media.
"If Hardik was injured in the (2023 ODI) World Cup, who else can we give the captaincy?" asked Shah, indicating if the all-rounder gets injured during the course of the 2024 T20 World Cup, who will replace him as captain.
"In the third T20I against Afghanistan, India were 22/4 and the way he (Rohit Sharma) took the team to 212/4, we can't question much about him, right?" he added.
"He (Rohit) has the ability, as I said, we won 10 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," Shah expressed.
India have had all-rounder Hardik Pandya as their full-time skipper in the shortest format since India's defeat in the previous T20 World Cup held in Australia. However, the heartbreaking loss in the final of the 2023 World Cup to Australia have reignited the murmurs of veteran batters Virat Kohli and Rohit returning for the T20 elite tournament in June.
Captain Rohit and Virat Kohli have made their return to T20I cricket with a T20I series against Afghanistan held in January this year. The duo would also be keen to clinch a T20 World Cup, giving another shot for an ICC Trophy. Rohit was part of the Indian team that won the inaugural event in South Africa way back in 2007 while Virat Kohli is yet to be part of the T20 World Cup-winning team and he would surely like to end his career on a high.
Virat was a part of the 2011 ODI World Cup winning Indian team. The Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) have renamed the Rajkot stadium after Niranjan Shah, the long-serving affable administrator.
Shah belongs to a Gujarati family, who were into newspaper publishing. He rose through the ranks due to his administrative skills. He has also played 12 first-class matches and amassed 281 runs at an average of 11.70 in 10 years between 1965-75.
Shah made a speech in front of a gathering of several dignitaries including former India captains Sunil Gavaskar and Anil Kumble and IPL chairman Arun Dhumal. The event also featured current chief selector Ajit Agarkar, head coach Rahul Dravid, Rohit, Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and a few members of the Indian team support staff.
The 2024 T20 World Cup will be held in the Caribbean and the United States of America (USA). A total of 16 matches will be held in Lauderhill, Dallas and New York while the blockbuster clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan is scheduled to play in Long Island on June 9.
The marquee event is split up into four groups consisting of five teams, with the top two sides from each group then progressing to the Super Eight phase of the tournament ahead of the knockout semi-finals and final. (With PTI inputs)
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