T20 World Cup 2021: Back together for one final time, Virat Kohli and Indian thinktank want to finish with elusive world title
After a one-and-a-half-month break, captain Virat Kohli and Team India support have regrouped and passionately discussed to win the ongoing T20 World Cup in what will be their final assignment together, Sportskeeda has reliably learnt.
While Virat will relinquish the T20 captaincy, the 20-over World Cup will mark the end of head coach Ravi Shastri and bowling coach Bharat Arun’s four-year tenures with the Indian team. A week before their opening game against Pakistan, the three of them, along with mentor MS Dhoni, have spoken their heart out about giving one final shot at that elusive world title.
“When they met here, it was almost after a month and a half. So when they met, the whole conversation has been like, this is the last time that they are together – because Ravi is finishing, Bharat is finishing, Virat will finish as T20 captain – so they’ve had a great journey,” sources close to the Indian team told Sportskeeda.
Their meet-up was emotional in itself, especially after the Covid scare that split them in England in September. Shastri, Arun and fielding coach R. Sridhar tested positive during the course of The Oval Test and weren’t even allowed to travel to Manchester for the final rubber. On the flip side, Virat Kohli and the rest of the team flew directly into the IPL bubble in the UAE – some of them headed home in India – after the fifth Test was controversially postponed.
The current Indian cohort, though, has been a force to reckon with. In 2018/19, they became the first Asian team to win a Test series in Australia before repeating the feat at the start of this year. Had the Manchester Test not been called off, Virat Kohli’s boys were well on their way to winning a first Test series in England since 2007.
But, the only blemish on their cabinet has been the absence of an ICC title. They came close to winning the 2019 World Cup in the UK before bowing out to New Zealand in the semi-final, before again going down to the same opponents in the World Test Championship final in June this year.
The appointment of MS Dhoni as mentor for the T20 World Cup did raise a few eyebrows. But the World Cup-winning captain would have a massive role to play in the home stretch.
“They have beaten Australia, they were leading in England – in their minds, they won that series 2-1 – so they want to finish off on a high. The only thing missing is the World Cup, that was the conversation, that they’ll get together for one final time and it will be one last hurrah. And MS coming into the dressing room has been welcomed, that MS was there in 2019 when they fell just short. So this is one final time that these four people are coming together,” the source added.
MS Dhoni joined the Team India bubble on a high after leading the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to their fourth IPL title on October 15. Virat Kohli, though, once again failed to win the IPL trophy in his last season as captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Quite a lot at stake in the T20 World Cup.
Team India schedule for T20 World Cup 2021
Match 16: October 24, 7:30 pm - India vs Pakistan – Dubai International Stadium, Dubai
Match 28: October 31, 7:30 pm - India vs New Zealand – Dubai International Stadium, Dubai
Match 33: November 3, 7:30 pm – India vs Afghanistan – Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Match 37: November 5, 7:30 pm – India vs B1 – Dubai International Stadium, Dubai
Match 42: November 8, 7:30 pm – India vs A2 – Dubai International Stadium, Dubai
1st semi-final: November 10, 7:30 pm – Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
2nd semi-final: November 11, 7:30 pm – Dubai International Stadium, Dubai
Final: November 14, 7:30 pm – Dubai International Stadium, Dubai