Rohit Sharma has pointed out the need for the spacing of World Cups, as the ICC has, in order to maintain the charm of these mega-events among fans.
No competition is bigger than the ICC World Cup tournaments, for every team and innumerable fans across the globe, in cricket. Ever since the inaugural 2007 World T20, the number of these mega-events has seen a significant rise. However, the one in 2016 -which was the sixth edition of the T20 World Cup- was the last T20I World cup.
Rohit Sharma: ICC Have Spaced The Worlds Cups Nicely Between 2016 And 2021
But there wasn’t a significant gap considering that the 50-over World Cup, which had an extraordinary end to it, was played in 2019. Hosts England won by scoring more boundaries than New Zealand after the scores were tied even in the Super Over and regular 50 overs.
While the T20 World Cup was scheduled for 2020 in Australia, it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 7th edition of the T20 World Cup will be held in India, during the October-November window, in 2021.
India’s veteran opener and limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma has backed this spacing by the ICC given that these gaps between two mega-events help maintain the anticipation and charm among fans.
“Look obviously if you don’t play the World Cup, you definitely miss it. But in between, we played 50 over World Cup which was in 2019. It’s for ICC to decide there can’t be too much of the World Cup also. So they have spaced it out nicely between 2016 and 2021, there was a 50-over world cup in between,” Rohit Sharma said in a press conference ahead of the T20I series against England.
“So, it’s nice for the fans also to look forward to something because it’s not every second year you are playing the World Cup, otherwise the charm of the World Cup goes away. The freshness of the World Cup remains and it’s gonna be an exciting World Cup as it is being played in India. We are all looking forward to that but before that, we still have a lot of work to do,” said Rohit Sharma.
ICC T20 Cricket World Cup was started in 2007 and was won by the Indian team in a thrilling final against Pakistan. West Indies is the current champion of the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup. ICC T20 Cricket World Cup 2021 is proposed to be played in India. The seventh edition of the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rohit Sharma Doesn’t Need To Talk About The Approach
Rohit Sharma, who missed the entire white-ball leg of the Australia tour due to an injury incurred during IPL 2020, is all set to appear in the upcoming 5-match T20I series between India and England starting on March 12. All five T20Is will be played at the same venue, in Ahmedabad.
“I have played more than 100 T20Is now. You should know my approach as of now, how I approach the game. I don’t need to talk about the approach. I have done it for many years. But yes the situation changes every now and then and based on the situation, I have to change my game,” he added.
“It is very important for me to understand that situation and play according to whether we bat first or bowl first. Keeping that in mind I will take my game forward.”
Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan leg-spinner Rahul Chahar is expected to join the Indian T20I set-up after Rahul Tewatia and Varun Chakravarthy failed their respective fitness tests at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. Rahul Chahar made his debut for India in 2019 and played a match against West Indies in the Caribbean.
Since then, he has not played a single match. He has been successful for Mumbai Indians in the IPL over the last two seasons. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has earned a recall to the side for the first time since 2019.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has been recalled to India’s T20I squad for the upcoming five-match series against England in Ahmedabad. Rishabh Pant missed out on the three-match series against Australia in 2020, but has shone for India in red-ball cricket in 2021 and will get a chance to pick up his first T20I cap since January 2020.
The 19-man squad, captained by Virat Kohli, features three uncapped players, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, and Rahul Tewatia.