Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly has backed both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to feature in the Indian squad for the upcoming ICC World Cup 2024. The upcoming T20 World Cup edition will be played in June in the West Indies and the USA.
The schedule for the same was unveiled by the ICC a couple of days ago, with India grouped with Pakistan, Canada, USA, and Ireland in Group A and will play all its matches in the USA. India and Pakistan to clash on June 9 in New York.
However, the BCCI is yet to finalize the squad for the ICC event, as there is deliberation over the inclusion of veteran batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Both have not played a T20I since November 2022 when India lost to England in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup in Australia.
Both Rohit and Kohli recently made themselves available for the Afghanistan T20I series starting next week, but it remains to be seen whether the duo is picked.
However, Sourav Ganguly, a former BCCI President, showed confidence in the duo playing in the T20 World Cup and even stated Rohit Sharma should captain the side.
"Of course, Rohit should captain the team in the T20I World Cup. Virat Kohli also should be there. Virat Kohli is an outstanding player, nothing will happen (to return after 14 months)," Ganguly said during a promotional event in Kolkata.
Ganguly is impressed with Yashasvi Jaiswal's outing in the two-Test series in South Africa and said the young opener will get enough opportunities in the future. The 22-year-old opener managed only 50 runs in four innings on the challenging South African tracks of Centurion and Cape Town as the series ended in a 1-1 draw.
"He has played well in the second Test, it's just the start of his career. He will get enough opportunities," Ganguly said.
Ganguly also praised the Indian team for its performance on the South Africa tour, despite losing the first Test by an innings and 32 runs in Centurion.
"People say a lot of things after losing one match, India is a strong side. But look at the way they have played. They won the ODI series, drew both the Test and T20I series,” Ganguly added.
(PTI inputs)
