The T20 World Cup is set to begin on Sunday, and all eyes will be on the USA and West Indies, who are the co-hosts. It is expected to be action-packed, especially with many players in good touch due to the T20 World Cup.
The main focus will be on Team India, who haven’t won an ICC trophy since 2013. Rohit Sharma and Co. came close in the ODI World Cup last year at home, but lost to Australia in the final.
Speaking to AB de Villiers on his YouTube channel, former player Aakash Chopra was asked about India’s chances in the ICC showpiece event.
“Well, it is not going to be easy for sure because we haven’t played T20 cricket the way it is supposed to be played for the last few editions. Whether it was the one in Dubai, the one in Australia. We haven’t been up to the mark but somehow we’ve found the same assembly of stars. So the batting order still looks the same, the bowling almost looks the same. So it is going to be tough but then I’m expecting the pitches in the West Indies, second part of the tournament at least, where the pitches may start holding up a little bit. Big ground, spinners may come into the picture and that is where India might have a slight advantage to actually do well,” he said.
Chopra also made a huge prediction, stating that Virat Kohli would open with Rohit and Yashashvi Jaiswal would not feature in the playing XI.
“I feel your friend biscuit is going to open. He will be opening with Rohit and there will be no place for Yashasvi in the playing XI is what I understand. Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube both will be playing and Dube is almost undroppable in my opinion. He is the only guy who has been hitting sixes well. Otherwise, Hardik or Jadeja or Axar Patel. You need some muscle towards the latter half of a T20 innings, especially in the West Indies, when you are playing the day games,” he said.
The spotlight will also be on Rohit and Hardik Pandya. Pandya replaced Rohit as MI skipper prior to IPL 2024, and it created plenty of controversy.
Explaining that their MI issues would not affect India’s dressing room, Chopra said, “I don’t think there will be any issues because we are dealing with professionals. Even if there is something and this is very hypothetical that there is something. Even if there’s something, they will put it aside and all of them will be playing for Team India. I don’t know of a cricket team where everybody got along well with each other. So there is some lack of chemistry everywhere, I don’t really actually think it is going to make a difference. The only thing is Mumbai Indians finished at 10 and four of their players are actually going to be in the playing XI. So that does not bode very well.”
India will be entering the tournament with confidence, having beaten Bangladesh by 60 runs in their warm-up fixture. They are set to face Ireland in their opener, on Wednesday.
