On Sunday (Jan 7), the BCCI selectors announced India’s squad for the upcoming home T20Is versus Afghanistan, starting on Jan 11 in Mohali. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli headlined the squad announcement as the duo returned to the T20I setup after the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. Since India’s semi-final exit in the 2022 edition, the two had not played a T20I but their return have bolstered India’s plans for the 2024 T20 WC in West Indies and USA. 

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With Rohit’s return, and white-ball vice-captain Hardik Pandya’s injury, there are strong chances of Hitman leading India in the forthcoming ICC event. Former Indian cricketer Kris Srikkanth feels all signs suggest that Rohit will only captain India in the upcoming edition of the T20 WC.

Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel, “All signs suggest that Rohit Sharma is going to lead India in T20 World Cup. That’s how it’s going. The very fact that he is made captain now, yes, Hardik Pandya is injured, Suryakumar Yadav, who was the deputy, is also not available due to injury. Jasprit Bumrah is also not there. Rohit Sharma will be the captain. See, Mumbai Indians making Hardik Pandya captain is the franchise’s choice. From the team selection, Rohit Sharma will only captain India in T20 World Cup in all probability. It’s moving toward that.”

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‘The wound of losing the World Cup is not over for him’

Further, Srikkanth feels Rohit will play aggessively at the top as his hunger to win a World Cup as a captain remains unfulfilled despite India’s dream run in the 2023 ODI WC at home. “Rohit will play with total freedom in the IPL. He will play attacking cricket, like he did in the World Cup. The wound of losing the World Cup is not over for him. If India had beaten Australia on November 19, things would have been different. He now wants to win a World Cup as a captain. A T20 World Cup is a World Cup at the end of the day. He would love to achieve it. Yes, 50-over World Cup is considered big, but if you win a T20 World Cup, you are still a World Cup-winning captain,” Srikkanth added.

“At the end of the day, he wants to prove a point to himself. He seems to be determined to win a World Cup as captain,” the 1983 ODI World Cup-winning member concluded. 

Both Rohit and Kohli will be eager to make a mark versus Afghanistan, which is India’s last T20I series before the T20 WC in June. The series gets underway on Jan 11 in Mohali. 

Here is India’s T20I squad for the Afghanistan series –

Rohit Sharma (captain), S Gill, Y Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, W Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan and Mukesh Kumar

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