Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah has confirmed that Rohit Sharma will lead the country in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup that will be jointly hosted by the West Indies and the Uanited States of America (USA) later this year. The board is of the belief that Rohit must be at the helm of the side as Hardik Pandya is still recovering from ankle injury that he picked up against Bangladesh in Pune in the ODI World Cup in October last year.
Concerns over Pandya's injury track record
Reaction from the team-mates when Jay Shah said "India will win the T20I World Cup under the leadership of Rohit Sharma".
- This is beautiful. 👌 pic.twitter.com/U9l6XK7Orp— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) February 14, 2024
"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 on the sidelines of the ceremony to rename the SCA Stadium after former board secretary Niranjan Shah. "
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.
Confidence in Rohit's batting
VIDEO | Here’s what Asian Cricket Council president and BCCI secretary Jay Shah (@JayShah) said while addressing an event in Rajkot.“In 2023 (final) at Ahmedabad, even though we did not win the World Cup after 10 straight wins, we won hearts. I want to promise you that in 2024… pic.twitter.com/GcEJjSdiLs
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 14, 2024
"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.
Earlier during the function to rename the SCA Stadium, Shah said, "In 2023 (final) at Ahmedabad, even though we did not win the World Cup after 10 straight wins, we won hearts. I want to promise you that in 2024 (T20 World Cup) in Barbados (venue for the final), under Rohit Sharma's captaincy, ham Bharat ka jhanda gaadenge (we will hoist the Indian flag)."
Shah made the 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, incumbent head coach Rahul Dravid, Rohit, Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and a few members of the Indian team support staff.
(With PTI inputs)
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