(Agencies Photo)

Sunil Gavaskar believes India’s 15-man squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup strikes a balance between youthful energy and seasoned expertise. Led by Rohit Sharma, the team is focused on recapturing the T20 crown they secured in 2007. The T20 extravaganza commences on June 1 (June 2 in India) with the USA, co-hosts, facing off against Canada. India’s inaugural match is scheduled for June 5 against Ireland.

“This team has a good blend of experience and youth. There’s Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah alongside youngsters like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying by Dainik Jagran.

Gavaskar believes that India possesses a sufficient number of batsmen in the squad who can excel across all formats of cricket. He dismisses any concerns suggesting that their abilities are better suited for ODIs rather than T20Is.

“The team has several batters who can play in all three formats. They have enough T20 experience. Indian batting line-up can play in all the formats,” the batting legend said.

The world cup will be played in the USA and the Caribbean islands. While the pitches in USA are still an unknown quantity, Gavaskar reckons India should play three spinners when playing in Caribbean pitches.

“Considering the pitches in West Indies, the attack has to be balanced. So three spinners and two fast bowlers while Hardik Pandya can be the back-up pacer. To me, this will keep the balance of the side,” he said.

Gavaskar observes that Caribbean pitches have lost their previous liveliness and are no longer as challenging as they once were. He notes that spinners now receive significant assistance on these pitches.

“Caribbean pitches aren’t as hard as before and here spinners get a lot of purchase. These surfaces are generally good for batting and I am expecting good contests here. It will be fun watching world cup in Caribbean,” he said.