The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, slated to be held in the West Indies and USA from June 1 to June 29, is another opportunity for Team India to end their long-standing global trophy drought. 

The Men in Blue, led by Rohit Sharma, will begin their campaign against Ireland at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York on June 5.

Days before India’s opening match, the legendary Sunil Gavaskar has opined that the inaugural champions have a good mix of youth and experience in their line-up.

“This team has a good blend of experience and youth. There’s Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah alongside youngsters like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying by Dainik Jagran.

While many experts feel that the selectors should have picked a few more batters with higher strike-rate, Gavaskar believes India have enough batters in the squad who are capable of excelling in all three formats.

“The team has several batters who can play in all three formats. They have enough T20 experience. Indian batting line-up can play in all the formats,” the batting great said.

Nobody known how the pitches will behave in the United States, but Gavaskar wants India to field three spinners when playing on Caribbean tracks.

“Considering the pitches in West Indies, the attack has to be balanced. So three spinners and two fast bowlers while Hardik Pandya can be the back-up pacer. To me, this will keep the balance of the side,” he said.

According to Gavaskar, the Caribbean surfaces are no longer spicy as they used to be and spinners will have a major role to play during the marquee event.

“Caribbean pitches aren’t as hard as before and here spinners get a lot of purchase. These surfaces are generally good for batting and I am expecting good contests here. It will be fun watching world cup in Caribbean,” he remarked.

India are placed in Group A of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, along with Pakistan, Ireland, Canada, and the USA.