India t20 world cup squad

India train in ‘Big Apple’: Getting used to cooler temperatures, playing white-ball games in morning

Danijones5 months ago06 mins

Team India during a training session ahead of their ICC T20 World Cup opening match against Ireland on June 5, in New York on May 29, 2024. | Photo Credit: ANI After two months of intense competitive cricket under night lights, the Indian cricket team, sans Virat Kohli, began its preparations for the T20 World Cup with a morning training session here, keeping in mind the 10.30am starts for all its preliminary games. Kohli took a break for personal work after RCB’s IPL ouster and in all likelihood, he will join the squad by Friday. But it is not clear if he would be able to take part in the only warm-up game against Bangladesh on Saturday after a long flight. Having played 90% of the matches under lights in the scorching Indian summer, the idea would be to adjust to pleasant mornings where temperatures will hover between 25 to 27 degree celsius with very less humidity. A white kookaburra in slightly windy mornings could be a challenge and to be prepared for that, the severely jet-lagged bodies need to get used to morning conditions. And this is why the support staff, before initiating the skills training (net sessions) on the practice pitches at a ground on the outskirts of the city, have decided to help the players acclimatise with the conditions. With 14 players checking in, there was light jogging, routine shuttle runs, and a bit of foot volley to get into the groove. “They have been away two and half months from us and getting to know where they stand and what needs to be done before the World Cup is the goal. The (first) goal is to spend 45 minutes in the heat to get going,” Strength and Conditioning coach Soham Desai told bcci.tv. “We came in the day before yesterday and we just eased into our routines here, the players are just getting used to the time zone. Today we are having our first ground session,” he added. As far as the players are concerned, there is an element of curiosity about playing cricket in New York. The Indian teams, over the years, have played primarily in Florida at the Fort Lauderhill ground during their tours of the West Indies. “First time we are going to play cricket in New York, it’s going be fun,” all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja said. “We have not yet played cricket, came here for a team activity today. Hopefully, it will be good. The weather is really good, so we are looking forward to it.” Skipper Rohit Sharma’s deputy Hardik Pandya seemed excited with the “bright sunshine” and “good vibes” while Suryakumar Yadav wanted to know more about the the diaspora’s cricket interests. “I heard cricket is growing here in the US. So we are really excited and the first day here was amazing, so very excited for the few days coming up,” Surya stated. India, the 2007 T20 World Cup champions, will start their campaign here on June 5 against Ireland, followed by the big game against arch-rivals Pakistan on June 9. They take on hosts USA on June 12 before the cricket caravan moves to familiar Lauderhill in Florida for the game against Canada on June 15. India are supposed to be clubbed A1 irrespective of where they finish in the group and will then proceed to the Caribbean islands for the Super 8 phase of the tournament where they would meet Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. None of the Indian main squad players featured in the IPL finals held on May 26 in Chennai.

‘Leaving Rinku Singh out of T20 World Cup team toughest thing’: Apologetic Ajit Agarkar finds no fault in KKR batter | Crickit

Danijones6 months ago05 mins

BCCI chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar said leaving Rinku Singh out of India’s 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup was one of the toughest decisions. India announced their squad on Tuesday (April 30) for the world event slated to take place in the USA and West Indies in June this year. The squad has a good mix of youth experience, but the non-selection of Rinku, one of India’s top performers in T20Is in the lead-up to the IPL, became one of the biggest talking points. India’s Rinku Singh plays a shot(BCCI Twitter) The 26-year-old Aligarh left-hander, who captured the cricketing world’s imagination with five sixes in an over during the previous IPL, made way for Shivam Dube in the main national squad while his name ended up being among the reserves. Unlock exclusive access to the latest news on India’s general elections, only on the HT App. Download Now! Download Now! Two days after naming the squad, Agarkar and captain Rohit Sharma answered queries from reporters in a press conference held in Mumbai. Agarkar said Rinku didn’t do anything wrong. The selectors couldn’t pick the dynamic left-hander in the final 15 as they wanted more bowling options. “(Not picking Rinku Singh) the toughest thing that we have to discuss. Rinku hasn’t done anything wrong, nor has Shubman Gill. It’s about the combinations. We are not quite sure about the conditions. So we wanted to have enough (bowling) options. We have picked a couple of wrist spinners, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, to give Rohit more options. There’s Axar (Patel), a bowling all-rounder. It’s just unfortunate,” Agarkar said on Thursday. ‘Not Riku Singh’s fault that he has missed out’: Agarkar News agency PTI quoted a BCCI source privy to the developments in the selection meeting to claim that Rinku may have paid the price of the Impact Player rule in the IPL, which prevented him from having many opportunities with the bat in this IPL for his franchise Kolkata Knight Riders. The Impact Player rule has allowed every IPL franchise to field an extra batter when they are batting and replace him with a bowler later. As a result, Rinku, who has made a name for himself as a finisher, has played only 82 balls in 9 matches in IPL 2024, scoring 123 runs at a strike rate of 150. KKR have not needed his finishing skills in most of the matches this year as their openers, Phil Salt and Sunil Narine, have been doing the bulk of the scoring. Agarkar, however, said the decision to leave out Rinku had nothing to do with him. It was because of the combination the team management wanted to find the right balance in the USA and West Indies. “I don’t think it has anything to do with him. It’s not Rinku Singh’s fault that he has missed out. With two keepers who are both terrific batters, there’s already an extra batter sitting. So we thought of having an extra bowling option. Rinku is a travelling reserve; that’s how close he was, it’s a little tough on him but at the end of the day, you can only pick 15,” Agarkar said. India start their campaign in the T20 World Cup against Ireland on June 5.