The T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies may turn out to be the last dance for Indian T20I legends Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Rohit will be leading India in the mega event whereas Kohli will once again take the role of an anchor in the mega event. However, irrespective of whether India end the International Cricket Council (ICC) trophy drought or not, the two legends may bid goodbye to the format on the international stage.
As per the top sources in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), this will be Kohli and Rohit’s last assignment in the T20I format.
India are placed in Group A alongside arch-rivals Pakistan, Ireland, Canada and United States. After the Group stages, India will progress to Super 8. If India make it to the last four, the semifinals and the final will be played in the last week of June.
The semifinals are scheduled to be played on June 26 and 27 in Guyana and Trinida respectively whereas the final will be played on June 29 at Kensington Oval, Barbados. One of these three dates are likely to be the Indian stalwarts’ last T20I appearance.
Earlier this year, Rohit and Kohli returned to the T20I squad after a long hiatus in the home series against Afghanistan. It was also India’s last T20I series before the T20 World Cup 2024. Both veterans had not played a T20I game since India’s T20 World Cup 2022 exit in the semifinal against eventual champions England.
However, Hardik Pandya’s injury led to Rohit leading the T20I squad once again. Many questioned Kohli’s position at the top. However, he answered the critics by becoming the leading run-scorer in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Despite Kohli’s consistent run in the IPL 2024, his strike rate has been under the scrutiny considering the game has evolved.
Kohli and Rohit’s T20 World Cup numbers
Earlier, Sports Tak had also reported that Rohit wants Kohli in his squad for the T20 World Cup 2024. The 35-year-old has been a prolific run-scorer at the event. He has scored 1,141 runs from 25 innings at an average of 81.50 including 14 half-centuries. Meanwhile, Rohit is not far behind. He has 963 runs from 36 innings at an average of 34.39 including nine half-centuries.
Also, Kohli and Rohit are leading run-scorer in T20Is. Kohli has 4,037 runs at an average of 51.75 including one century and 37 fifties. Rohit has 3,974 runs at an average of 31.79 including five centuries and 29 fifties.
India’s T20 World Cup squad
Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), 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.
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