Veteran commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has said that India haven’t been overly dependent on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli at the ongoing 2024 T20 World Cup. He shared how all the players have contributed to India’s success in the mega event. However, he also shared that both Sharma and Kohli should continue trying to score quickly at the top of the order.
Manjrekar wrote in his column for the Hindustan Times: “Rohit and Virat are still obvious icons in this team and for its fans, but India, as we have seen in this WC, have moved on. It is now a team of 11, not just one or two. Come the semis, when the challenge gets stiffer and India play with the realisation that they will be knocked out of the tournament if they lose, Rohit and Virat must continue to embrace this attitude.”
“The last thing India want is a repeat of the semis of the last T20 WC when both Rohit and Virat took it upon themselves to be the ones to lead India’s fight against a strong England side, which backfired badly. I also have one minor concern regarding India’s seam quality (barring the genius of Bumrah, of course); I am not so sure about Arshdeep against a strong team on a pressure stage. This aside, India seem to have all bases covered,” he further added.
However, Sanjay Manjrekar believes that picking Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the 2024 T20 World Cup showed that the selectors weren’t keen on relying just on younger players now as well. He added that India played safe by going with experienced stars for the ICC event as well.
“It felt as though the Indian selectors played it safe with their selections for the T20 World Cup squad. In picking Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, it was a clear message that they were not yet ready to commit to the youth; they still wanted some experience around for an ICC event. The brand of cricket India are playing in this WC is one we have never seen before, and something we are trying to come to terms with. To Virat’s credit, for someone who doesn’t like getting out (a trait that can be a weakness in T20 cricket), he has also committed himself to taking risks regularly and seems okay, as of now, with getting out while taking those risks. The way India have batted so far conveys that even though selections have taken a more traditional and cautious route, the brand of cricket on show is going to be modern and dynamic,” Sanjay Manjrekar concluded.
