Former England cricketer David Lloyd has minimized India’s chances in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 which is scheduled to be held in the West Indies and USA starting June 2.
Despite consistently reaching the knockout stages, India has not secured an ICC trophy since their 2013 Champions Trophy victory under MS Dhoni’s captaincy, marking a decade without a major win.
Although the Indian cricket team has frequently advanced to the later stages of tournaments, they fell short as runners-up in the 2023 ICC World Cup at home and made it to the final of the World Test Championship twice.
In the T20 World Cup, India, who won the inaugural 2007 edition, faced early elimination in the league stage in 2021 and were knocked out in the semi-finals in 2022.
Criticizing India’s approach, former England cricketer David Lloyd described the team as “predictable,” highlighting their risk-averse strategy with both bat and ball. He suggested that this conservative approach has contributed to their lack of silverware over the past decade, despite their talented lineup. Lloyd acknowledged the skill of Indian players but noted that their cautious tactics have prevented them from becoming a dominant force in ICC events, despite having a roster full of star players.
“(It is) quite a predictable team. The shackles are not off. I would think the opposition accept the quality.. yeah, good players these. But they ain’t taking a risk with bat or ball. So, you’d think of them as ‘yeah, they will have their moments,’ but they wouldn’t be really threatening,” said Lloyd on TalkSport Cricket Podcast.
There has been a significant discussion regarding the future of India’s senior players in the T20I lineup ahead of the tournament. Nonetheless, the selectors have once more expressed their faith in star batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who are set to participate in the upcoming event. To accommodate these seasoned players, young finisher Rinku Singh has been relegated to the reserves.
India finds itself in Group A of the T20 World Cup 2024, alongside Pakistan, Ireland, the USA, and Canada. The Indian team will begin their campaign against Ireland on June 5 in New York, followed by a highly anticipated match against Pakistan on June 9. Prior to these matches, they will face Bangladesh in a warm-up fixture on June 1 in the USA.
India Squad For ICC T20 World Cup 2024:
Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya (VC), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.
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