“Underprepared For Yet Another T20 World Cup”: Rahul Dravid Sent Brutal Verdict Ahead Of Opener

There remain dilemmas, confusion, and clarity issues over Team India’s composition as Rohit Sharma‘s men prepare for their opening T20 World Cup 2024 match against Ireland. The roles in the team remain undefined, with skipper Rohit himself suggesting that the line-up hasn’t been frozen yet. Amid the chatter around India’s line-up, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has sent a big warning to head coach Rahul Dravid over repeating the same old mistakes that cost India multiple ICC titles on previous occasions.

In a video on his YouTube channel, Chopra suggested that India look ‘underprepared’ for yet another T20 World Cup, with the management still finalising what the batting composition will look like.

Regarding the batting unit, the opening combinations have drawn the most attention, with Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Yashasvi Jaiswal battling for the top 2 spots.

“Are India underprepared for yet another T20 World Cup? Aren’t we still figuring out our batting line-up? Who is the opener and the finisher? Should we get to know all these only in the World Cup? Yes, India like a left-right combination, but are almost certain to go with two right-handers: Rohit and Kohli. Rishabh Pant will likely bat at No. 3, followed by Suryakumar Yadav, and their dismissals will depend on whether India will next send Shivam Dube or Hardik Pandya. Then Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. There are a lot of left-handers. But my question remains, why are we getting to know about this now? Shouldn’t it be ideal that we should have known the opening combination by now?,” he said in the video.

Compared to the T20 World Cup 2022, India only reached the semi-finals where England beat them by 10 wickets. Chopra doesn’t think a lot has changed with regards to the personnel in this World Cup. While a few roles have changed, there isn’t much clarity about them.

“Since the end of the last T20 World Cup in 2022, we have been playing with almost the same XI and the same batting order. So, what have we changed? And the roles that have changed, none were informed about it. It’s not ideal. And it is because none of the senior players played since the last World Cup. I strongly feel we lack proper preparation. We are still trying to address it. We do have individual brilliance, but what happened last times was that we created a scene around the opening position. Between the World Cup in the UAE and Australia, we tried so many options for the opening role, including Suryakumar Yadav. But eventually, we opened with Rohit and Rahul, Kohli at 3…absolutely no use. That came back to haunt us. It’s an early warning, but we haven’t prepared well,” he said.