The T20 World Cup 2024 is underway! As Indian fans gather hope for an ICC trophy yet again, the Men in Blue are already making their mark in the United States of America. Rohit Sharma & Co. are gearing up for their tournament-opener against Ireland.
However, all the buzz and chatter around the Indian team had already begun before even the start of the T20 World Cup. With the craze around cricket in our country, the fans and critics held their sleeves up, ever since the squad for the 2024 T20 WC was announced.
Looking at India's T20 World Cup 2024 squad, Australian pundit Jarrod Kimber has blasted the BCCI for leaving out the young IPL sensation Abhishek Sharma, from India's squad.
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What did Jarrod Kimber say about Abhishek Sharma and India's World Cup squad?
Jarrod Kimber slammed India's squad selection for the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024. Speaking with the TalkSport Cricket podcast, the Australian spoke about India's lack of aggression in their batting and bowling approaches. He reasoned India's decade-long trophy-draught in ICC tournament.
Most of India's bowlers are defensive bowlers. They don't get a lot of wickets, and they can't put pressure on West Indies and England, and Australia too. They don't put that kind of pressure because they don't take enough wickets, Kimber stated via TalkSport Cricket.
The Australian blamed the Indian batters for batting selfishly, over prioritising the team motive.
And their batters, they all bat within themselves, all the time. They came to that last World Cup in Australia, and said we're going to attack, and smash everything. Rohit Sharma took one look at the wickets, and said, 'guys we have to bat within ourselves here', Kimber added.
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Jarrod Kimber criticised India's unnecessary consistency in their squads over the past few ICC tournaments. He questioned the selection of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Sanju Samson, over Abhishek Sharma.
Look at their World Cup squad for this tour (T20 World Cup 2024). They've picked safe players. They picked the same squad again, and that is what India keep doing, Kimber pointed out in the podcast.
Have you seen Abhishek Sharma in the IPL? He's got a strike-rate of over two-runs-a-ball! He's not in the T20 World Cup squad, is he? He (Abhishek) is scoring quick runs, and they're going with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Sanju Samson, Kimber felt Abhishek Sharma should have been selected in India's T20 World Cup squad.
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The Australian sports-writer credited Virat, Rohit, and Samson for their quality. However, he also stated about the lack of aggression that these players bring to the table, leaving India behind its competitors at ICC events.
They're all quality players. No one is having a go at the quality. But has the game moved beyond them! And what Virat and Rohit keep saying is we will be more attacking. I don't think India has ever been at the curve, when it comes to attacking with bat and ball. That's why they are always just a bit too far behind (than England, Australia, or West Indies), Kimber concluded.
What is India's squad for the T20 World Cup 2024?
- Rohit Sharma (c) (OPENING BATTER)
- Yashasvi Jaiswal (OPENING BATTER)
- Virat Kohli (PROBABLE OPENING BATTER)
- Suryakumar Yadav
- Rishabh Pant (wk)
- Sanju Samson (wk)
- Hardik Pandya (vc)
- Shivam Dube
- Ravindra Jadeja
- Axar Patel
- Kuldeep Yadav
- Yuzvendra Chahal
- Arshdeep Singh
- Jasprit Bumrah
- Mohammed Siraj
- Shubman Gill (travelling reserve)
- Rinku Singh (travelling reserve)
- Khaleel Ahmed (travelling reserve)
- Avesh Khan (travelling reserve)
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When will India play their first match at the 2024 T20 World Cup?
Team India will play their first match of the T20 World Cup 2024 on June 05. The Men in Blue will face European minnows, Ireland, at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.
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