23 June, Kathmandu. India, who are strong contenders for the title, will play their first match in the Twenty20 World Cup on Wednesday. This match of Group ‘A’ is against Ireland.
Perhaps this tournament could be the last Twenty20 World Cup for captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Regardless of the coincidence, these two players also have a huge responsibility on their shoulders, to bring the World Cup title to India, which is going through a drought of titles, after a long time.
Rohit and Virat have been the main players of the Indian cricket team for a long time. Rohit was 37 years old. Virat is 35 years old. The last time India won a major title was in 2013, when they lifted the Champions Trophy. If we go back to last year’s ODI World Cup, India reached the final in the tournament on their own soil, but were disappointedly defeated by Australia.
India’s performance before the final was very strong. But nothing worked against Australia at the world’s biggest cricket ground in Ahmedabad. At that time, both Rohit and Kohli looked equally disappointed. But now they have a chance in the next ‘White Ball’ World Cup in America and West Indies. While speaking to Star Sports, former Indian player Mohammad Kaif said, ‘Both Rohit and Virat know very well, this could possibly be their last big tournament.’
The next Twenty20 World Cup will be held two years later. The ODI World Cup will be held in 2027. By then, both their priorities and plans will change. Their performance in IPL 2024, which ended just a few days ago, was different. Rohit lost the captaincy of Mumbai Indians and his personal performance was also poor. He scored 417 runs, but it did not help Mumbai to get a good win.
But Virat played very well for Royal Challengers Bangalore and took the team almost single-handedly to the ‘play-offs’. Virat was also the batsman to score the most runs in that tournament. 741 runs came out of his bat. For Bengaluru, Virat also started the innings with Faf de Flessis of South Africa. Virat had no answer as an opener. Both of them have the sweet experience of winning the World Cup for India.
Rohit was a member of the team when India won the first edition of the Twenty20 World Cup in 2007 by defeating Pakistan. When India won the ODI World Cup in 2011, Virat played well with the bat. Since then, India has not won any World Cup. That’s why both Rohit and Virat are under pressure in big tournaments. Due to the pressure, Virat left the captaincy of the Indian Twenty-T20 team in 2021 and got a chance to replace him, Rohit.
It will definitely not be difficult for India to reach the Super Eight. Leaving Pakistan, it will be easy for India to push aside Canada and America along with Ireland. In that sense, the real test of Pakistan along with India will be in the Super Eight stage, not in the league stage. In the same sense, Rohit and Virat will have an opportunity to catch up with opponents who are considered weak. In that sense, the question is, will Rohit and Virat possibly get a chance to win the title in their last World Cup?
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