T20 World Cup 2024: Ravi Shastri names two players crucial for India’s title hopes

Former head coach of Indian cricket team Ravi Shastri picked two players who would be crucial for the Blues T20 World Cup 2024 hopes which is set to be played in the United States and West Indies in June.

Shastri, who coached India from 2017 to 2021, picked Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube as two players who can make a difference as India will begin their World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5 in New York.

Jaiswal and Dube were named in India’s 15-man World Cup squad that was announced last month. Both players are currently playing in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), while the former has already notched up a hundred, the latter continues to deliver as he has smashed 26 sixes in 11 matches at an impressive 170.73 strike rate and one of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) important players.

“The two gentlemen you've got to watch out for, and both are left-handers, both playing their first World Cup,” Shastri told ICC.

“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.

“But there's someone [Dube] 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.

“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," Shastri added.

Remember, India is in Group A with arch-rivals Pakistan and the two sides will take on one another in one of the most anticipated matches of the World Cup on June 9 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York.

India's T20 World Cup 2024 squad

Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya (vice-Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj.

Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan

Groups for T20 World Cup 2024

Group A: India, Pakistan, Ireland, Canada, United States

Group B: England, Australia, Namibia, Scotland, Oman

Group C: New Zealand, West Indies, Afghanistan, Uganda, Papua New Guinea

Group D: South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Netherlands, Nepal