With less than two months left for the T20 World Cup 2024, the discussion about India's squad for the tournament has picked up a lot of pace. While the core team is almost certain, there are some spots that are there for the grabing in the team. Experts and former cricketers have already stated putting forward their opinions regarding the players they think should be chosen for the mega event. Ex-India batter Mohammad Kaif too has picked his India XI and interestingly, omitted swashbuckling opener Ishan Kishan. Rising pace sensational Mayank Yadav also failed to find a spot in the playing XI.
Kaif instead went with Yashasvi Jaiswal as an opener with India captain Rohit Sharma for the upcoming tournament. He picked the team on Star Sports' show 'Follow The Blues' as quoted by Sportskeeda.
"Yashasvi Jaiswal will open alongside Rohit Sharma. Then Virat Kohli at No. 3, Suryakumar Yadav at No. 4, Hardik Pandya at No. 5, and Rishabh Pant at No. 6," said Kaif.
To make sure there is enough batting firepower in the team, Kaif opted to pick more and more all-rounders.
"I will keep a lot of all-rounders because you need batting depth. So I will say Axar Patel at No. 7 and Ravindra Jadeja at No. 8. After that, Kuldeep Yadav, who is a skillful bowler, at No. 9. Then two fast bowlers - Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh. That makes it your XI," Kaif explained.
The T20 World Cup 2024 will kick off on June 1 with a match between United States and Canada in Texas. Meanwhile, the high-octane encounter between India and Pakistan will be played in New York on June 9.
A total of 20 teams will be participating in the tournament with four groups of five-team each. The semi-finals of the tournament will be played on June 25 and 27 while the summit clash will be played on June 29.