Page 48 - The Indian EYE 012624

SPORTS JANUARY 26, 2024 | The Indian Eye 48

T20I should they get an opportunity.
“I hope they do that in Bengalu-
ru. Not only to put the bowlers under
scanner but also to check the depth
of your batting. Players like Axar
Patel and Washington Sundar, who
come down the order, may get a look
in. Then you can understand if you
want to play three seamers or spin-
ners in the playing XI, once Hardik
Pandya comes in,” Karim said.
Not finalised squad for T20
World Cup: Rohit

ndia skipper Rohit Sharma con-
firmed on Thursday that they still
Ihaven’t finalised the squad for
the upcoming 2024 T20 World Cup.
Speaking to JioCinema, Rohit said he
has a few players on his mind who are
going to feature in the tournament.
“We have still not finalised the
squad for the T20 World Cup, but
obviously in the mind you know the
8-10 players who are going to play.
Then you decide on the combination
after looking at the conditions of the
place you will be travelling to. In the
West Indies, the conditions are quite
slow, so we have to pick the squad
accordingly. Again I say, Rahul bhai Hardik Pandya has been out of action because of an ankle injury (ANI)
and I have tried to maintain clarity in
the team. The one thing I have learnt
from captaincy is that you can’t keep ing at one point but they are trying a “Shivam Ati Sundaram - his While speaking to Channel 7,
everyone happy. You have to focus lot of players currently. power is talking loudly. I felt he was Hough said that the job is a bit tricky.
on the needs of the team,” Rohit said. Rohit featured in a T20I game sent slightly early in the third match. “It’s a bit tricky, we basically built
The 36-year-old said he dis- after spending more than a year You could have sent either Sanju six of the 10 trays here in Adelaide.
cussed ideas with head coach Rahul away from the format in the recent- Samson or Rinku Singh ahead of We made them modular. We’re real-
Dravid before the start of the three- ly concluded series against Afghani- him because he is not a grafter, he is ly proud of them. We’ve got a cou-
match T20I series against Afghani- stan. With two ducks to his name in an attacker. He reminds me of Yuvi ple out of the back that will probably
stan since he had not played 20-over the first two games, Rohit went on to (Yuvraj Singh). So you need to keep come out here [on Adelaide Oval]
games for almost one year. score a record-breaking 121* off 69 him slightly down the order,” Chopra next year,” Hough was quoted by
The skipper revealed that he deliveries. Afghanistan managed to said on his YouTube channel. ESPNcricinfo as saying.
used to watch T20I matches even draw the game and force the clash to The former batter further added He confirmed that the pitch in
when he was not playing, so he “got super over. The first super over end- that both Hardik and Dube should be New York’s Eisenhower Park is cur-
an understanding of a few things”. ed on level terms, but in the second there in the T20 World Cup squad. rently in the “grow-in phase”.
“We had a lot of discussions be- Rohit’s fireworks and Bishnoi’s com- “The way he hit sixes in the first “We put them in a shipping con-
fore the series. I had not played for posure saw the hosts clinch the series two matches, the power was evi- tainer and send them really wherev-
one year, so I discussed ideas with by 3-0. dent. Some people have even said er we want around the world. But
Rahul bhai (Dravid). Although I was to leave Hardik and pick Dube. I am they’ve gone over to Florida. And
watching the games, I was not play- Aakash Chopra backs for saying keep both. Shivam Dube is a I’ve just come back from a month of
ing. I got an understanding of a few Shivam & Hardik real contender based on these three work over there putting the trays to-
things, so we wanted to implement matches. If he does well in the IPL, gether, putting the soil in, compact-
them and also do something differ- ndian cricketer-turned-commen- it will be the icing on the cake,” the ing them and putting the grass on. So
ent,” he added. tator Aakash Chopra opined that former India opener added. we’re in the grow-in phase,” he said.
He added that the team manage- IIndia can pick both all-rounders “It’s a lot of work that’s gone
ment wanted their bowling attack to Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya in The pitch to be used for into it so far. But the real work starts
be used in a different way. “We want- the squad for the much-awaited T20 India-Pakistan match around the start of May. It’ll take
ed our bowlers to bowl in a different World Cup, starting from June in the two days to transport them up which
way, someone wasn’t comfortable West Indies and in the United States head of the 2024 T20 World is quite incredible. Never done that
bowling in the power play, so we had of America. Cup, Adelaide Oval head before. So, there’s a lot of firsts.
to use them there. Some were not The 46-year-old asserted that Agroundsman Damien Hough And then there’s getting them in the
comfortable bowling at the death, we the Dube reminds him of former In- explained on Friday the making of ground,” he said.
asked them to bowl there,” he added. dia all-rounder Yuvraj Singh as he the pitch in New York at Eisenhower While concluding, he added that
When asked about leading a attacks the bowler in the same way. Park that would be used for the In- the high-voltage match between In-
young squad in the series against the He said that the 30-year-old should dia-Pakistan match in the extravagant dia-Pakistan will also be played there
Afghans, he said that it was challeng- bat a little down the order for India. ICC tournament. and “which will be amazing.”

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