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India’s captain for the 2024 men’s T20 World Cup will
be Rohit Sharma. Speaking to the media at a Rajkot function on Wednesday, BCCI
secretary Jay Shah stated as much. He also added that Rahul Dravid will
continue to lead the team until the global tournament*.
Rohit will be leading India in the T20 World Cup for
the second time; he did the same in 2022. India was defeated by eventual
champions England in the semi-final of the Australia-hosted tournament. After
that, Rohit did not participate in any Twenty20 Internationals and did not
appear in any in 2023. However, he was called back to spearhead the charge
against Afghanistan in January 2024. The selectors’ decision appeared to
indicate that Rohit will almost definitely lead the team in the June World Cup,
which will be held in the USA and the West Indies. Shah reaffirmed the same
today.
“The fact that he was returning after a year to
lead in the Afghanistan series recently meant he was obviously going to [lead
in the T20 World Cup],” Shah said at an event to rename the Saurashtra
Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot the Niranjan Shah Cricket Stadium.
India’s ODI World Cup final under Rohit was lost at
home, and days later Suryakumar Yadav was captaining the T20I team against
Australia. In December, Suryakumar also captained India in the shorter format
in South Africa. Meanwhile, the Mumbai Indians declared that Hardik Pandya
would succeed Rohit as team captain. Then, in January, Rohit returned to action
against Afghanistan. He became the first player to five T20I hundreds when he
hit 121 not out following two matches in which he bagged ducks.
Shah stated that although Hardik, who had led India in
the shortest format in many series in 2023, is still the preferred long-term
option, Rohit will captain the country at the World Cup. Shah remarked that
Hardik’s injury sustained during the ODI World Cup made Rohit’s recall
necessary in the near term. “Hardik will undoubtedly be the captain of the
T20 team in the future.”
“Rohit has the ability, we know. As he showed in
the ODI World Cup where we won 10 matches in a row until the final. I am
confident that India will lift the 2024 T20 World Cup under Rohit Sharma’s
captaincy in Barbados.”