Former Australia captain Michael Clarke feels India have taken a huge risk heading into the T20 World Cup, saying that their heavy reliance on spinners might backfire. India have selected four spinners, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are all-rounders while Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal are the two wrist spinners. Clarke said while India post a big threat to Australia’s chances of winning the T20 World Cup, he pointed that India have made a big gamble by selecting four spinners.

“I think India have taken a risk with the squad they have picked – heavily reliant on spin, very different from Australia. But in the conditions that I have played in the Caribbean I think how you play spin is going to be a huge part of whether you succeed or not. India are the biggest threat for me with regards to who is going to win the World Cup,” Clarke told ESPN.

Clarke, however, re-iterated that  India are the favourites based on the amount of cricket all the players have managed to get under their belts, hinting at the recently-concluded IPL.

“If you look at the favourites for the World Cup it’s got to be India just because of the amount of cricket they have played, their preparation has been outstanding. Conditions are different to India but there are a lot of similarities so the players would be used to that,” he added.

India play Bangladesh in their only warm-up game on June 1 before opening their T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5.

After two months of intense competitive cricket under night lights, the Indian cricket team, sans Virat Kohli, began its preparations for the T20 World Cup with a morning training session earlier this week, keeping in mind the 10.30am starts for all its preliminary games. Kohli took a break for personal work after RCB’s IPL ouster and in all likelihood, he will join the squad by Friday. But it is not clear if he would be able to take part in the only warm-up game against Bangladesh on Saturday after a long flight.

Former Australian cricket team captain Tim Paine expressed his concern for Team India ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 and even served them a warning concerning star batter Virat Kohli. India are one of the firm favourites ahead of the competition but Paine believes that the campaign will depend heavily on how Kohli ends up performing.  Paine, in conversation with fellow countrymen Aaron Finch and Michael Clarke on the ‘Around the Wicket’ podcast, compared Kohli to Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and said that if the India star fails to perform, Rohit and Co will not be able to win the title.

“I can’t see India winning the World Cup unless Virat Kohli has a really strong World Cup – bit similar to Glenn Maxwell’s form. I know he hasn’t been red-hot as of late but I can’t see Australia winning the World Cup unless Maxwell has a blinder,” Paine said on the podcast.

Recently, Kohli opened up about his retirement plans.

“I think as a sportsman, we do have an end-date to our careers. So I am just working backwards. I don’t want to finish my career thinking ‘oh, what if I have done this on that particular day’ because I can’t keep going on and on forever. So it’s just about not leaving any undone business behind and not have any regrets later, which I am sure I won’t,” said Kohli at RCB’s Royal Gala Dinner.

“Once I am done, I will be gone, you won’t see me for a while (smiles). So I want to give it everything I have till the time I play, and that’s the only thing that keeps me going,” he added.

Kohli is currently the run-scorer in the ongoing IPL 2024 and will be looking to guide Royal Challengers Bengaluru to the playoff with a win over five-time champions Chennai Super Kings.