File image of Axar Patel.© X (Twitter)

As Gautam Gambhir gears up to make his debut as India head coach in the first T20I against Sri Lanka, former India batter Wasim Jaffer has shared his playing XI choices for the game on social media. Jaffer – who has been rumoured to become the new head coach of IPL franchise Punjab Kings – made some hot selections. Jaffer left out some big names in the form of Sanju Samson and the in-form Washington Sundar, instead choosing T20 World Cup stars Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel.

If Gambhir and the Team India management were to think the same as Jaffer, it would mean that Samson would miss out yet again, despite his fine form in IPL 2024. Having not played a single game in India’s victorious T20 World Cup 2024, Samson could be set to play second-fiddle to Pant again.

Samson had piled up 531 runs in IPL 2024, 85 more than Pant. Jaffer also left out Samson’s Rajasthan Royals teammate Riyan Parag from his XI.

My playing XI for first T20I:

Gill

Jaiswal

Pant (WK)

SKY (C)

Dube

Hardik

Rinku

Axar

Bishnoi

Arshdeep

Siraj

What’s yours? #SLvIND

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) July 27, 2024

Jaffer went with an opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and vice-captain Shubman Gill, followed by Pant, new India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya and Rinku Singh.

With Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma retiring from T20Is after the T20 World Cup, Gill is expected to become a feature in the side. Rinku Singh, who narrowly missed the cut from the World Cup squad, also finds a spot.

Jafar went with Axar Patel at the no. 8 spot, ahead of Zimbabwe tour ‘Player of the Series’ Washington Sundar. Washington had picked up eight wickets in five games against Zimbabwe, at a miserly economy of 5.16. Ravi Bishnoi was his selection for the specialist spinner.

Finally, Jaffer picked two frontline seamers in the form of Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj.

Wasim Jaffer’s playing XI: Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj.

The Indian cricket team won the T20 World Cup final despite being in a tricky spot.© AFP

File photo of Ravidra Jadeja© AFP

File image of Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting.© AFP

Rohit Sharma and PM Narendra Modi© X (Twitter)

Virat Kohli was guarded in his approach while Axar Patel was the enforcer as India recovered from early jitters to post 176 for 7 against South Africa in the T20 World Cup final on Saturday. At 34 for three, India were staring at another batting failure in a big final before Axar (47 off 31) and Kohli (76 off 59) turned the tide for them. Axar was run out in an unfortunate manner, completely against the run of play, which brought about an end to his 72-run partnership off 54 balls with Kohli. Kohli did slow down considerably in the middle overs to bring up his first 50 off the tournament with 48 balls.

– 72* (44) in the 2014 Semi Final.

– 77 (58) in the 2014 Final.

– 89* (47) in the 2016 Semi Final.

– 50 (40) in the 2022 Semi Final.

– 78 (59) in the 2024 Final.

VIRAT KOHLI – THE MAN FOR BIG STAGES…!!!! pic.twitter.com/sJYm8IRgej

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) June 29, 2024

Rohit Sharma (9) had no hesitation in batting first at Kensington Oval where the pitch has not been the easiest to bat on through the competition.

Virat Kohli in the world cup finals pic.twitter.com/ICVYd3GQAO

— Sagar (@sagarcasm) June 29, 2024

The Indian captain, coming from two back to back match winning efforts, departed early after collecting couple of consecutive fours off Keshav Maharaj in the second over of the game.

Always the KINGGGGG

well done @imVkohli

#INDvSA #T20WorldCup #CricketTwitter

— DK (@DineshKarthik) June 29, 2024

Maharaj responded well by having Rohit caught at square leg as the batter went for a sweep. Rohit and incoming batter Rishabh Pant both fell to the sweep shot.

Came in as hope for 1.3 billion and left making 1.3 billion hearts happy.

That’s Virat Kohli for you. pic.twitter.com/d0tiqbh5lW

— Kevin (@imkevin149) June 29, 2024

The tension in the Indian camp increased when Suryakumar Yadav, who has also been in good touch like Rohit, was caught at fine-leg after not getting enough from his pick up shot off Rabada, leaving India with three down inside the powerplay.

At 45 for three in six overs, it was the slowest powerplay for India in the Caribbean leg.

Watching wickets tumble at the other end, Kohli, who hit three elegant boundaries off Marco Jansen in opening over of the final, shifted gears during the middle overs and let Axar come up with an odd boundary.

Such was the nature of Kohli’s knock that his first big hit after the powerplay, a straight six off Rabada, came in the 18th over Axar, on the other hand, potentially played the innings of his T20 career and negotiated the South African spinners effectively, collecting a six each from Aiden Markram, Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi. However, the highlight of his special knock was the straight six through the line off Rabada.

Between 7-15 overs, India mustered 72 with the loss of Axar who fell to a direct hit from keeper Quinton de Kock at the non striker’s end. Kohli was pushing for a single off a rising ball from Rabada and de Kock with a clean one handed pick up, hit the bulls eye.

Shivam Dube (27 off 16), who came into the middle before the start of death overs, delivered a few timely blows to prop up the total.

Kohli also dropped anchor to smash a couple of sixes in the last five overs from which India collected 58 runs with the loss of three wickets. 

India cricket legend Yuvraj Singh sent social media into a frenzy with a tweet, following India’s semi-final win over England in the 2024 T20 World Cup. As India ran out convincing winners by 68 runs, Yuvraj tweeted “Goodnight in-laws”. The tweet is a humorous reference to his wife Hazel Keech, who was born and brought up in Britain. A star of India’s 2007 T20 World Cup triumph, Yuvraj will now be cheering on Rohit Sharma and co. as they aim for a second title.

After the semi-final, Yuvraj tweeted: “Well played boys. Goodnight in-laws.”

Well played boys goodnight in-laws #IndiaVsEng #ICCMensT20WorldCup2024

— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) June 27, 2024

Put into bat by England, India notched 171 on the board in 20 overs. Thereafter, India skittled out the English batting lineup for just 103. Axar Patel was Player of the Match, picking up three wickets. Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav also got three, while Jasprit Bumrah took two.

Earlier, Rohit Sharma’s 39-ball 57 and Suryakumar Yadav‘s 36-ball 47 helped India to an above par score on a slow, spin-friendly pitch at Guyana’s Providence Stadium. Despite some rain interruptions, India managed to score big.

Yuvraj is no stranger to scoring runs against England in T20 World Cups. He famously smashed Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over during the 2007 T20 World Cup, en route to a 12-ball half-century.

Yuvraj has also been in the USA during the T20 World Cup, and has appeared in the commentary panel for some of India’s games.

India will now take on South Africa in the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup. Much like the 2023 ODI World Cup, India will enter the final having not lost a single game in the tournament. Interestingly, South Africa also have a 100% win record in this edition, as they gear up to play their first T20 World Cup final.

The final will take place at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on June 29.

Legendary Pakistan bowler Shoaib Akhtar has slammed the England cricket team’s decision to elect to bowl after winning the toss against India in the 2024 T20 World Cup semi-final. India piled up 171 runs in their 20 overs, a total that always seemed like an uphill climb for the English batters. Ultimately, England fell short by a whopping 68 runs. After the game, Akhtar wondered what had inspired England to choose to bowl, given the might and variety of India’s bowling lineup.

“Someone please tell me which Einstein adviced England to bat second. What scientist do they have?” questioned a puzzled Akhtar after the game on his YouTube channel.

“Against a team that has Axar Patel, a match-winner like Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja. Then they have Jasprit Bumrah. So who advised you to win the toss and bowl?” continued Akhtar.

England’s batting unit could not deal with the firepower of India’s bowling. Only three batters crossed the 20-run mark, and one more managed to hit double digits.

Axar Patel was the star of the show, dismantling the English top order with three wickets (3/23 in 4 overs). Spin partner Kuldeep Yadav also picked up three wickets, while Bumrah added two wickets to his tally.

However, Shoaib Akhtar reserved more praise for India’s batting. Courtesy of a half-century by Rohit Sharma, and sizeable efforts from Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya, India reached a total of 171/7 in 20 overs.

Rohit accelerated early, scoring a 39-ball 57 on a tough Guyana pitch. Suryakumar Yadav made 47 off 36, and Hardik contributed a quickfire 13-ball 23, with two sixes.

“I’m very happy to see India win,” said Akhtar. “They have a good range of batting. There are no batsmen like Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya,” said Akhtar.

India will take on South Africa in the 2024 T20 World Cup Final in Barbados on June 29. Both sides are yet to lose a game so far in the tournament.

Former India cricketer Sarandeep Singh feels the “unplayable” spin combination of Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel will be too much for the South Africans to handle during the T20 World Cup final in Bridgetown, Barbados on Saturday. Wrist spinner Kuldeep has taken 10 wickets in four games with a best of 3/19, while Axar has grabbed eight from seven games with a best of 3/23. Both left-arm spinners are expected to play in the final. “If you ask me, who are the two players who will win it for India in the final, I will say Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel. They are outright match-winners in spin-friendly conditions,” Sarandeep told PTI Videos on Friday.

“We are having at the world’s best spinners at the moment. Look at the way Kuldeep and Axar came in, they are winning all the games. They are unplayable. Everyone is talking about Kuldeep. He is going to destroy the South African middle order.

“He has done it against Australia (in Super 8s) and England (in semifinals). Now it’s the turn of South Africa. Axar is also a very dangerous slow left-arm orthodox bowler. An outright match-winner. Indian spinners will win the final.” India and South Africa are coming into the final having not lost a single match in the World Cup. While South Africa won all their eight games, India were victorious in seven as the tie against Canada in Florida was washed out due to rain.

Sarandeep, who played three Tests and five ODIs, added that Axar and Kuldeep would be even more potent on the spin-friendly Bridgetown wicket.

“Axar starts getting wickets from the sixth over. It’s not easy for Axar to bowl in powerplay. He comes, bowls, and makes things easy for the rest of the bowlers. Kuldeep and Axar are complementing each other so well.

“The wickets in West Indies are not easy to play especially if you have world-class spinners like Kuldeep and Axar. It was not easy for England, it will not be easy for South Africa as well,” Sarandeep observed.

The former India off-spinner added that skipper Rohit Sharma was spot on in his assessment of Caribbeans conditions and opted for four spinners.

“Rohit opted for four spinners but (Yuzvendra) Chahal is not in the scheme of things. The reason is, others have done their job exceedingly well. (Ravindra) Jadeja is the senior-most player but he is not coming into powerplay. Axar knows how to bowl in these conditions. He is the best option for us to bowl into the powerplay. He is giving the results as well,” he added.

On whether South African spinners Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi could also trouble the Indian batters, Sarandeep said, “Yes they will. Keshav and Shamsi are also very good. Let’s see how Indian batsmen handle the spinners.

“India has a very strong middle order. India has left-handers like Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Axar, and Jadeja. Four left-handers in the middle order. It will be interesting to see how Maharaj and Shamsi are going to tackle them. And vice-versa. This will be a big challenge for them also.” Sarandeep added that India has the best batting and bowling lineup in the world.

“Bumrah’s economy is 3.5 or 3.6. This is so unreal. Other bowlers go over 9 or 10. Even after eight games, his economy is 3.5. This is so unreal. What else can you ask from him? India is the favourites not only in batting but bowling as well.” The former cricketer played down Virat Kohli’s lack of form. Virat has scored only 76 runs in seven innings.

“Virat is waiting for the final to perform. He is a world-class player, no doubt. He is mentally very strong. He is a team man. He is playing for the team. And there is some plan given to him.

“Normally he opens only in the IPL. But here he had been given a clear-cut role. Virat is trying to hit from the first ball and trying to put more pressure on the bowlers. But somehow he is getting out quickly. But I am not worried about him. He is a big-match player. And that big game is coming. His big innings is coming against South Africa.”