According to the spin wizard, Harbhajan Singh, the Indian team’s squad should include Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the T20 world cup in the Caribbean region and America by 2024.
The pair of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have not featured in limited over cricket for in in the aftermath of that fateful semifinal loss at the ICC T20Wc, 2022. However, there are several questions regarding their inclusion in the T20 World Cup next year despite being the top two leading run scorers in the ODI WC.
To ANI News, Harbhajan supported Kohli and Rohit for the T20 World Cup as players who would add valuable experience on the side.
“I think both Virat (Kohli) and Rohit (Sharma) should be there in the World Cup…I think a good combination would be possible only when you have good senior players too with the youth. Virat and Rohit have a lot of mettle in them…I think they should play.”
Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh believes India should not make excuses for losing the ODI World Cup final and instead accept Australia as the superior team on the day.
“India lost the World Cup final because they did not play well. Australia played better and played boldly. We succumbed to the pressure after losing the third wicket. We could have scored 280-290 runs. A lot of blame is being placed on pitch, dew and conditions, but we must accept that we did not play well under pressure.”
Harbhajan Singh
Coming into the final, however, India had won all 9 league stage games and the semi-final versus New Zealand. They were undone by Australia though when they met each other in the final of the cup tournament and suffered the agony that comes when your dreams die.
“We will have to change ourselves a little as we judge teams on results too quickly” – Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh defended the youthful Indian squad competing in South Africa and urged supporters not to overreact based on a few results.
The men in blue were defeated by five runs in the second T20I but came back strongly and recorded an unbeatable triumph of 106 runs in the final match. The second day proved to be successful for South Africa while the first day was rained out with the series ended up at an equal score of 1 all.
Suryakumar Yadav, who was also named Player of the Series, guided India magnificently.
“This is a young team; I think we should give them some time. We are very result-oriented, and our team is good only if they give results. That is not the case. I think that if we give them time, they will obviously learn. We will have to change ourselves a little as we judge teams on results too quickly..Results take time. This team is in the process. South Africa is not an easy place to play, especially for bowlers.”
Harbhajan Singh
India gave their veteran players a break and hired young talent for the series. This is part of their strategy for next year’s T20 World Cup.
Next, they’ll compete in a tri-match ODI series, finishing their tour in South Africa with a two-Test series.