The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah has announced Rohit Sharma will lead India at the T20 World Cup in June.
“We may have lost the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup, but we won hearts there by winning 10 matches in a row. I am confident that India will lift the 2024 T20 World Cup under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy at Barbados,” Shah said during his speech while the renaming the SCA Stadium as the Niranjan Shah Stadium on Wednesday.
Shah’s statement came with Rohit, head coach Rahul Dravid and chairman of men’s national selection panel, Ajit Agarkar, in attendance at the function.
Minutes later, Shah told a select group of journalists that Rohit continues to remain “India’s captain in all the formats”.
He added that the decision had been made in consultation with the selectors before Rohit and Virat Kohli returned for the T20I series against Australia in January.
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“Rohit was captaining (in the past and in other formats) and he came back for the Afghanistan series, which means we were going to let him continue forward,” Shah said.
“When Hardik was injured in the (ODI) World Cup, who else can we give the captaincy (to)?” Shah said.
“In the third T20I against Afghanistan, India were 22/4 and the way he took the team to 212/4, we can’t question much about him, right? He has the ability. As I said, we won ten games in the ODI World Cup. We didn’t win the final, but it’s part and parcel of the game. Whoever plays better, wins.”
Since India’s semifinal exit at the T20 World Cup in November 2022, Hardik Pandya has led India in a majority of T20Is. When Rohit was recalled for the T20I series at home against Afghanistan in January, it was the first indication of him and Kohli set to feature in the 2024 edition.
Kohli had pulled out of the Test series between India and England citing personal reasons and Shah said that the Board would talk to him soon, regarding his inclusion in the World Cup in June.
“If a person, for the first time in a 15-year career, asks for personal leave, it’s his right. Virat is not a player who will ask for leave for no reason. We need to trust our player and back him,” he said.
The 35-year-old also confirmed that Hardik will be Rohit’s deputy at the T20 World Cup.
Centrally contracted players will have to play domestic red-ball cricket
Shah added that India’s centrally contracted players will have to mandatorily play red-ball cricket in domestic circuit and the BCCI will not tolerate any excuses for the same.
“They have been informed on the phone already and I am going to write letters as well that if your chairman of selectors, your coach and your captain are asking for it, then you will have to play red-ball cricket,” Shah said.
However, the BCCI secretary said that it will happen with guidance from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore.
“If you are fit then no excuse (for not playing) will be entertained. This applies to all centrally contracted and targeted players and they have to play. Everyone will have to play, otherwise, the chairman of the selection committee has given me his suggestions and I am going to give him a free hand to let him take his own calls freely,” Shah said.
Representative Image: The BCCI secretary said that the Board’s take on workload management would be final and that Franchises will have to heed that. | Photo Credit: The Hindu / Vijay Soneji
He also said that the Board’s decision on workload management would be paramount, irrespective of what the franchises want in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. In the recent past, several star cricketers have been rested by India to ‘manage their workload’, something that has even drawn criticism from experts.
“Franchises can’t get their way. The BCCI is the supreme body. Whatever the BCCI decides the franchises have to agree to. We (BCCI) are above the franchise,” Shah said.
Not jumping the gun
The next edition of the ICC Champions Trophy will be played in Pakistan and Shah was asked whether India would travel to a country it has not travelled to since 2006.
India and Pakistan comprise the biggest rivalry in modern cricket and tense political relations between the neighbours have seen no cricketing action in the latter, against each other.
M. S. Dhoni plays a shot as during a one day international between India and Pakistan at Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar. It was the last series when India had travelled to Pakistan. | Photo Credit: The Hindu / S. Subramanium
India was scheduled to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup 2023 but it refused to do so. Eventually, the tournament was shifted to Sri Lanka where Rohit’s men won the trophy, thrashing Sri Lanka in the final.
About the Champions Trophy, Shah said,” India’s position (on travelling to Pakistan) would be based on what the (Indian) government decides. It’s still more than a year away, best to stay in present.”
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