T20 World Cup 2024: Former Indian wicketkeeper batsman Parthiv Patel has made a huge claim regarding the selection criteria of the Men in Blue for the upcoming 2024 T20 World Cup. According to the 38-year-old, the India vs. Afghanistan three-match T20i series won’t be seen as a selection series for the upcoming 2024 T20 World Cup. He also feels that the inclusion of Skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the squad for the Afghanistan series indicates that the duo will board the plane to the West Indies and the USA for the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma made their much-awaited comeback to T20 Internationals after spending more than a year away from the shortest format of the game. While Kohli missed the first encounter against Afghanistan due to personal reasons but returned for the second game and played a quickfire innings of 29 runs, skipper Rohit Sharma is having a hard time out on the field as he has registered two back-to-back ducks in the first two games against Afghanistan.
“I don’t see the IND AFG T20i series as a selection series for the upcoming World Cup. I don’t think any player, regardless of their performance, will affect the selection chances of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Once you have selected both of them for this series, it means that they will play in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Rohit would like to score some runs. He likes to set the tone of the innings, and once he settles down on the crease, he would like to play a big innings,” Parthi Patel told Jio Cinema.
In the first and second T20 Internationals against Afghanistan, the Men in Blue successfully managed to chase down the targets set by the visitors and won comfortably by six wickets in both matches. Former Indian cricketer Saba Karim feels that the Men in Blue should once again field first, chase the target in the penultimate T20i, and test their batting depth.
“I hope they choose to field first in Bangalore. Not just to put the bowlers under the scanner but also to check out the batting depth of the team. Players like Washington Sundar and Axar Patel, who come to bat in the later half of the inning, may get a chance to show their batting prowess. This way, the selectors may get a better idea of fielding three spinners or pacers in the playing 11 after Hardik Pandya returns to the side,” Saba Karim said.
The Indian team has already secured a series victory in the three-match T20i series against Afghanistan with a 2-0 lead. Both sides will clash against each other tonight in the penultimate T20i at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
Read: PAK vs NZ 3rd T20I: Finn Allen Firepower Dashes Pakistan As New Zealand Beat Pakistan by 45 runs
Visit the ICC Official Website for more details
