"The 2 pillars of reliability will be Virat Kohli at the top and Jasprit Bumrah" - Aakash Chopra on India's strengths heading into 2024 T20 World Cup
Aakash Chopra has picked the 'reliable' duo of Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah as one of India's strengths heading into the 2024 T20 World Cup. The inaugural T20 World Cup champions will hope to end their 17-year title drought in a global event in the shortest format.
India are placed in Group A alongside Pakistan, Ireland, Canada and the United States of America. The Men in Blue will begin their campaign against Paul Stirling and company in New York on Wednesday, June 5.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra chose the presence of consistent players like Kohli and Bumrah as one of India's positives.
"They have Virat Kohli in batting and Jasprit Bumrah in bowling - two absolutely gun players and reliable players over a period of time if we talk about consistency," he said (1:15).
"Of course, you will also have Rohit Sharma's explosiveness, Hardik Pandya's finishing later and Suryakumar Yadav's incredible shots in the middle, but the two pillars of reliability, who deliver 99.9 percent of the times you expect from them, will be Virat Kohli at the top and Jasprit Bumrah," the former India opener added.
Kohli was the top run-getter in India's run to the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-finals. Bumrah missed the last edition due to a back injury and will want to make up for his absence this time.
"Experience comes in very handy on the world stage" - Aakash Chopra on India's other strengths
Aakash Chopra reckons the immense experience in India's squad is another of their strengths.
"The Indian team's strength is experience. Experience comes in very handy on the world stage. If you already know how to come out of difficult situations, and you see a lot of experience in Rohit, Kohli, Bumrah, Surykumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja, and you say these guys have been there and done that," he elaborated (0:45).
The cricketer-turned-commentator added that Kuldeep Yadav could be a huge plus point for India.
"If we see the bowling, of course, you have two left-arm spinners, both are of different kinds. I feel Kuldeep Yadav could be a massive strength because his leg-spin in the middle overs, whether it's in New York or when we go to the West Indies, or if we reach the semi-finals and play in Guyana, he will have a very big role," Chopra observed (1:45)
Kuldeep and Yuzvendra Chahal are the two wrist-spinners in India's squad. The former will likely be preferred if the think tank opts to field only one of them in the playing XI.