"Not going to reveal our cards just yet" - Rahul Dravid on India's opening combination on 2024 T20 World Cup
Head coach Rahul Dravid refused to give a definite answer to a query on Team India's opening combination for the 2024 T20 World Cup. He said that they have picked three options in skipper Rohit Sharma, left-hander Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli, who opens in the IPL, adding that the final call will depend on the conditions and the kind of combination they go in with.
Rohit and Jaiswal opened the batting for India in the last two T20Is of the home series against Afghanistan at the start of the year. However, a number of cricket experts reckon that Rohit and Virat should open the batting in the T20 World Cup.
At a press conference on Monday, June 3, Indian head coach Dravid was asked to shed some light on the team's likely opening combination for the ongoing ICC event in the West Indies and the USA. He replied:
"We have got options. We are obviously not going to reveal our cards just yet. We have got Rohit and Jaiswal and Virat’s opening in the IPL as well. We’ve picked the team keeping in mind that we did have three options and we could pick and choose what we wanted depending on the conditions, depending on the kind of combination we go into these games with.
"We’ll see what it’s like, but it’s nice to have some real quality options at the top of the order," Dravid added.
Both Rohit and Kohli were recalled to the Indian T20I squad for the first time since the 2022 T20 World Cup when the team for the Afghanistan series was named.
"You can’t say that we have not played good cricket in these tournaments" - Dravid on India not winning ICC events
As has been the case for the past few years, India are again among the favorites to win the 2024 T20 World Cup.
However, despite possessing some amazing talent in their squad, the Men in Blue have not won an ICC event since 2013. Dravid, though, asserted that India's consistency in World Cups has been up to the mark.
"We’ve played really well in these World Cups in terms of our consistency - making the semifinals in the T20 World Cup in Australia, playing extremely well in the World Test Championship cycle to get to the final there again and then the 50-over World Cup, where we had a great run and went into the final," he said.
The 51-year-old, though, conceded that they have faltered at the final hurdle, which is definitely an area they need to address.
"You can’t say that we have not played good cricket in these tournaments. Yes, we haven’t been able to get across the line in the knockout game.
"We haven’t been able to execute in that last phase. So hopefully we play good cricket to get ourselves into those positions again and then, maybe play good cricket on the day to cross the line," Dravid concluded.
India reached the WTC final and the ODI World Cup final last year but went down to Australia on both occasions.