Indian cricket fans had a bitter-sweet moment after the Men in Blue became world champions after 13 years. First, it was Virat Kohli who announced his retirement from T20I cricket. Then, it was captain Rohit Sharma. After that, even Ravindra Jadeja retired from T20I cricket. There have been speculations if the senior members of the team will now focus solely on red-ball cricket.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah has, however, assured that “seniors will be there” in the Champions Trophy 2025 and the World Test Championship final if India qualify for it.
The Champions Trophy, ICC’s ODI tournament, will be held in Pakistan in February-March 2025 while the final for the World Test Championship will be in June 2025 at Lord’s. India, with 68.52% of points, are on top of Test rankings at present.
“Transition has already happened with three greats retiring. The way this team is progressing, our target is to win the World Test Championship final and Champions Trophy. There will be a similar squad playing there. The seniors will be there,” PTI quoted Shah as saying in Bridgetown, Barbados on July 1.
When asked about Hardik Pandya succeeding Rohit Sharma as India’s next T20I captain, Shah said the selectors would take the decision.
“Captaincy will be decided by the selectors and we will announce it after discussing with them. You asked about Hardik, there were lot of questions over his form but we and selectors showed faith in him and he proved himself,” he said.
‘Can field three teams’
Shah noted that only three members of India’s T20 World Cup champion team will be part of the one going for the Zimbabwe tour. Interestingly, those three members – Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh and Sanju Samson – never had a chance to play any matches for India in the World Cup.
“I would want India to win all the titles. We have the biggest bench strength, only three players from this team are going to Zimbabwe. We can field three teams if the need arises,” Shah said.
(With PTI inputs)
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