"Semi-final is not a sign of victory anymore" - Aakash Chopra on opportunity for India in 2024 T20 World Cup
Aakash Chopra has noted that the 2024 T20 World Cup presents a great opportunity for Team India. He pointed out that just making it to the semi-final will not count as a successful run.
The Men in Blue need to finish in the top two in the initial group phase and the subsequent Super Eight stage to make it to the semi-finals. They will start their campaign with a Group A game against Ireland in New York on Wednesday, June 5.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra observed that India have a massive opportunity to end their barren run in global events in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
"There are a plethora of opportunities. Let's be very honest, the mirror does not lie. We won in 2007, it was the inaugural edition, and since then we haven't really lived up to the expectations. We played a final, it was the 2014 tournament in Bangladesh, played the semi-final many times, but semi-final is not a sign of victory anymore," he said (3:25).
The former India opener noted that Rohit Sharma and company need to reach the final at least and go a step further for some of the senior players to end their World Cup careers on a successful note.
"India need to reach the podium to be successful. Finishing in the top two is the bare minimum. It's possible things might not go in your favor in the final but at least the finals. I also feel this might be the last World Cup for a lot of people, so you want them to have the trophy in their hands," Chopra stated.
Chopra pointed out that India could have gone into the T20 World Cup with a very young team. He observed that they decided not to go with that option as they have faith in the experienced players giving them a World Cup trophy before leaving.
"I don't think the strategy will change as compared to the way we played last year" - Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra expects India to adopt a cautious approach with the bat in the 2024 T20 World Cup, just like they did in the last edition.
"What will be the strategy? I don't think the strategy will change as compared to the way we played last year (2022 T20 World Cup). It's almost going to be the same because the conditions are also like that. The new ball is moving a lot, especially in New York, and in the West Indies, one or two pitches have looked extremely slow." he reasoned (4:25).
"Rohit Sharma might come in an ultra-aggressive mode but even he might not as you are trying to bat long. So strategy is not changing a lot. Don't believe we will look to and will score 60 runs in the first six overs every time. Don't count the USA and Canada matches, I am talking about the real matches like Pakistan and even against Ireland. Their new-ball attack is decent," the cricketer-turned-commentator added.
South Africa bowled Sri Lanka out for 77 in the last game in New York and needed 16.2 overs to reach the target. The Indian team think tank might look to open with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in such a scenario to provide some stability at the top of the order.