With less than a month’s time left before India kicks off their T20 World Cup campaign in New York against Ireland on June 5, former India head coach Ravi Shastri picked two players who will play a key role in the side’s title hopes. Surprisingly, it’s neither Virat Kohli nor captain Rohit Sharma who are highlighted, but two left-handed batters set to make their debut in a multi-nation ICC tournament for India – Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube.
Jaiswal has been in stellar form, recently smashing a record tally of runs in the Test series against England at home. He has also been impressive in the shortest format, amassing 502 runs in just 16 innings for India since his debut in mid-2023, including a century and four fifties.
“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.”
The other player that Shastri picked is Chennai Super Kings star Dube, who has been in sensational form in the ongoing IPL 2024 season, smashing 26 sixes in just 11 matches. Dube earned his spot in the Indian T20 World Cup squad based on his stellar performances in the T20 league in 2023 and 2024, along with his back-to-back fifties for India in the home T20I contest against Afghanistan earlier in January.
“But there’s someone 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,” Shastri said. “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.
“His strike rate, which will be close to 200 most of the time, will help India immensely in going forward, getting those 190s, 200s that are needed in big competitions, especially like the [T20] World Cup. So enjoy it, watch out for this left-hander — he’s big, he’s strapping, and he hits a long ball.”
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