With less than four weeks remaining before the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup gets underway, Ravi Shastri has picked up a couple of Indian stars to keep an eye out for at the marquee event to be co-hosted by the USA and Caribbean islands.
India, winners of the inaugural World T20 in 2007, have been put alongside Pakistan, Ireland, hosts USA and Canada in Group A. The Rohit Sharma-led side starts campaign on June 5 against Ireland in New York.
“The two gentlemen you’ve got to watch out for, and both are left-handers, both playing their first World Cup,” Shastri told ICC.
Shastri, a former India allrounder and head coach picked rising star Yashasvi Jaiswal and the rejuvenated Shivam Dube to play a key role in the former champions’ bid to reclaim the title.
“One is (Yashasvi) Jaiswal. We know a lot about him, he did extremely well against England, explosive at the top of the order, left-hander, he’s young, he’s fearless and he’ll play shots,” Shastri said.
Jaiswal, 22, has played 17 T20Is so far and scored 502 runs at a strike-rate of 161.93 including a century and four fifties. Currently, he’s representing Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2024.
The second player Shastri has his eyes on his allrounder Dube who has been in superb form for defending champions Chennai Super Kings while batting in the middle order.
“But there’s someone in the middle order, please watch out for [him], because he is explosive, he’s devastating and he’s a match-winner. He hits sixes for fun, and when it comes to spin bowling, he can kill you,” Shastri said.
“He’ll park a few balls out of Long Island into the small island, he’s that kind of a player. He hits it big, he hits it long, and like I said, against spin, he could kill you,” he added.
Also Read: Complete List of T20 World Cup 2024 Squads
While Dube’s prowess against spinners is a proven skill but there have been doubts over his technique against the fast bowlers. Shastri has allayed those fears claiming the 30-year-old has worked it out.
“Even against the fast bowlers, he’s worked out his game, he’s understood the way to play and I think he holds the key at that number five, number six position because if you’re on the doldrums, you want someone to change it in 20-25 balls, he’s the player to go to,” Shastri explained
“His strike rate, which will be close to 200 most of the time, will help India immensely in going forward, getting those 190s, 200s that are needed in big competitions, especially like the (T20) World Cup. So enjoy it, watch out for this left-hander — he’s big, he’s strapping, and he hits a long ball,” he added.
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