Jasprit Bumrah in action© X (Twitter)

Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels that India should strive to find the right balance in playing XI according to the conditions that would help them clinch victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup. During the group stage in the United States, India decided to go for three frontline pacers and two spinners. But in the Super 8 stage against Afghanistan, Mohammed Siraj was dropped for Kuldeep Yadav to provide the service of an additional spinner. Hardik Pandya featured as the third pacer, while Shivam Dube provided another seamer option.

Manjrekar evaluated India’s playing options, which feature a wide variety of players and feels that the team should go for the winning combination according to the surface.

“I think it’s always nice to have many options, and that’s just, I think is the foremost for any team management when there are exciting options to choose from. So I don’t think that is such an issue, but they must remain true to what would be the best playing 11 to get India to win in certain conditions,” Manjrekar said on ‘Caught & Bold’ on Disney Hotstar.

India enjoyed a flawless run in the ongoing T20 World Cup. Featuring in Group A, they defeated Ireland, Pakistan and the co-hosts, the USA, to qualify for the Super 8.

Their final group stage game against Canada was washed away in Florida, and the Rohit-led side finished at the top of the group with seven points.

India played their first Super 8 game against Afghanistan on Thursday by 47 runs. Suryakumar Yadav starred with the bat and scored 53 runs in 28 balls at a whopping strike rate of 189.29.

India will look to maintain their unbeaten run as they face Bangladesh on Saturday at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua.

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.

Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan.

A journalist mistook Suryakumar Yadav as Mohammed Siraj during a presser.© Instagram

Are the Indian cricket team members, upon whom rest the responsibility of bringing the T20 World Cup 2024 trophy home, really in great form? Not really. Virat Kohli finished as the top run-scorer while Jasprit Bumrah also did well. However, there are two very important names, whose IPL 2024 form left a lot to be desired – Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya – both two important characters of a hugely-debated Mumbai Indians captaincy change. Though Rohit Sharma scored 417 runs in 14 matches in the IPL 2024, he had a string of low scores as an opener in the IPL 2024. 

Hardik Pandya, on the other hand, did well with the ball in the latter stages but overall the fast bowling allrounder wasn’t his best for MI in the IPL 2024. 

Sourav Ganguly, former BCCI president and ex-Indian cricket team coach, was asked about the duo form going into the T20 World Cup 2024. 

“No, I am not worried. Rohit is a great of the game, and if you see what he did in the 50-over World Cup, I am confident he will do that again. At this level, form is about a couple of games when you have that kind of quality. So, I am not worried about Rohit. He has scored runs across the world, and has played a lot of cricket and will surely do the job expected of him,” Sourav Ganguly told Revsportz. 

“Hardik is different because he doesn’t play that much cricket, and that’s a worry. I want him to consistently play cricket, for only then can he hit a rich vein of form. I would want him to do so, and it can only happen if he plays a lot more cricket.”

Ganguly was also asked if the form of Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep was a concern too ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024. 

“I am not really worried. Again, you have to take into account the nature of pitches in the IPL, the ground dimensions and the conditions on offer for the fast bowlers. The World Cup will be very different, and the conditions in the West Indies will not be anywhere near the IPL. Our bowlers shouldn’t have an issue in the World Cup is my assumption,” Ganguly said.  

Punjab Kings didn’t utilise young Arshdeep Singh properly during the just-concluded IPL but the left-arm pacer can be very effective during the death overs at the T20 World Cup along with Jasprit Bumrah, reckons former India pacer Rudra Pratap Singh. The left-arm seamer got 19 wickets from 14 games but an economy rate of 10.03, primarily due to the ‘impact player’ onslaught left him a bit dazed. RP Singh, India’s bowling hero in the 2007 edition of the T20 World Cup in South Africa, said he will prefer Arshdeep over Mohammed Siraj.

“If we assess Arshdeep on the basis of his IPL performance, I think he hasn’t been utilised well,” RP Singh said while replying to a PTI query during a promotional event where the Indian team’s jersey was unveiled for the inaugural World Championship of Legends.

“The utilisation of the bowlers also depends on their captain, in which conditions he uses them, in which situation he makes them bowl and how best that he thinks his bowler is.” RP Singh, feels that wicket at Nassau County will be on the slower side and Arshdeep rather than bowling pacey length deliveries should focus on cutters.

“Talking about the length on the tracks in USA during an early morning start, as per my understanding, there should a bit of slowness in the wicket. So, the ideal length will be somewhere around just short of good length.

“There will be not a lot of swing for the bowlers but the bowlers with variations, not only just yorkers but also slower ones, leg and off cutters. These deliveries will be utilised a bit more by Arshdeep, so the success rate will be automatically higher for him and that’s what I understand the wickets in the US.” RP feels that Jasprit Bumrah should ideally bowl three overs in the back-10 as that would put pressure on opposition batting unit.

“Death bowling is really important in T20 cricket. Bumrah may bowl three overs in the death. He is our mainstay there. My preference alongside Bumrah in the death is Arshdeep over Siraj because of the variations he has. I think Siraj can be impactful in a game when he is bowling with the new ball. Otherwise, it should be Bumrah and Arshdeep.” Arshdeep, as a left-armer, will always create those difficult angles for right-handers and hence becomes an important cog in the wheel. The World T20 reserves also has another left-armer in Khaleel Ahmed.

“Left arm pacers are always an advantage especially against right-handed batters. It is not like two or more left-arm seamers can’t play together. Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and I have played in multiple games together.” For the perfect balance, Hardik Pandya needs to bowl his full quota of overs as it would give the team the luxury to play three specialist spinners and a chance to include Yuzvendra Chahal alongside Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja in the eleven.

“Hardik bowled in the IPL and bowled four overs so there’s no injury scare. Hardik’s bowling will be important and he will have to bowl all his quota of 4-overs. If Shivam Dube bowls too, then it will be an added advantage for India ahead.

“Shivam may not play some matches initially but whenever he plays, he will perform well and score runs for India.”

Former India cricketer Rahul Sharma wants Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh to lead the Indian bowling attack in the upcoming T2O World Cup in the USA and West Indies with Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja in the spin department. The much-awaited T20 World Cup 2024 is set to begin on Sunday (as per IST) with co-host the United States taking on Canada in the tournament opener in Texas. India will take on Ireland in their T20 World Cup opening match in New York on June 5 before the high-octane clash against arch-rivals Pakistan on June 9.

The Indian squad includes four spinners (Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel) and three pacers with two all-rounders. Chahal is making his comeback in the Indian team after July 2023 and was in red-hot form in the IPL 2024. With slow and turning drop-in pitches in the USA, Sharma thought that Jadeja along with Kuldeep would be a much better option than Axar and Chahal.

“We don’t know how the pitches in the USA will behave but as far I know the conditions there and some of the reports that are coming I will field Kuldeep Yadav along with experienced Ravindra Jadeja in the spin department and will want Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh to lead the Indian bowling attack,” Rahul Sharma told IANS at the inaugural event of Team India Champions.

“With four bowling options, and Hardik Pandya or Shivam Dube as all-rounder and fifth bowling option the Indian squad will look balanced and it will be easy for skipper Rohit Sharma to use the bowlers,” he added.

When asked about who he would like to see as the finisher role for the Indian team, Rahul Sharma said, “Seeing the way Shivam Dube has batted in this edition of IPL, especially against spinners it was amazing to see and also, he can be used as a bowler too. He dominated against spinners, batted sensibly against pacers, and didn’t look in any trouble. “So, for me, he must be given the responsibility of finishing the matches. And also we have Rishabh Pant in the middle, who has the ability to change the match from any point, so I don’t think there is any concern in the bowling department, and I hope that they dominate,” he concluded.

India will face Bangladesh in a warm-up match on Saturday at the newly-built Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in the USA, which is scheduled to host eight matches of the marquee tournament, including three games of India. The highly anticipated India-Pakistan clash, penciled for June 9, will also be hosted at this venue.

Faf Du Plessis took a ‘superman’ catch to leave both fans and experts stunned during the IPL 2024 match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings on Saturday. During the 15th over of the CSK innings, Mitchell Santner tried to hit a low full-toss from Mohammed Siraj over mid-off and it looked like Faf will not be able to reach the ball despite pulling off a good jump. However, the RCB captain left everyone surprised by completing a sensational one-handed catch to provide a major breakthrough. Virat Kohli was thrilled by the effort and he ran towards his teammate and gave him a kiss during the celebration.

RCB went on to book their spot in the IPL 2024 playoffs with a 27-run victory over CSK.

“I think it was a good wicket to be honest, it was spinning and gripping a little bit, but I think 200 on this ground was gettable. We kept losing wickets at regular intervals, it was a matter of one or two hits, sometimes that can happen in a T20 game. Pretty happy with what the target was, to sum up the season, I am pretty happy to have seven wins out of 14 games.”

#TATAIPL #RCBvCSK #IPLonJioCinema pic.twitter.com/GWuERdGUCL

— JioCinema (@JioCinema) May 18, 2024

“Just couldn’t get over the line in the last two balls. With the kind of injuries we had, missing out on two frontline bowlers, not having Conway at the top of the order as well, I think missing out on three key players made a huge difference. Credit to the CSK staff and everyone who put up a great show for us throughout the season. There were many challenges for us right throughout the first game.

Virat Kohli kissed Faf Du Plessis after a stunner from Faf. pic.twitter.com/2ktGK8vhcb

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 18, 2024

“Injury to Fizz (Mustafizur), then injury to Pathirana as well, he came back and then again Pathirana missed out. When you have injuries around, you have to get that balance in the team and pick it (the team) for every game. I think this season sums up well where we had to tinker around with our playing XI, considering the injuries and all the illness (of the players) as well.”

“Happy with the seven wins, couldn’t get over the line though. Happy with it. We got 10 from the last 2 balls in our last knockout game last year so this was a similar situation, things didn’t go our way (this season) though. For me, personal milestones don’t really matter a lot, after all the ultimate goal is to win. If you are not getting there it’s a disappointment. Doesn’t matter if you score 100 runs or 500-600 runs in a season. I am disappointed (after losing.),” CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad said after the match.

Virat Kohli trolled Mohammed Siraj in a video shared by RCB© X (Twitter)