New Delhi [India]Mumbai, May 31 (ANI): As India prepares for the T20 World Cup in the US and West Indies, several star Indian players including Shivam Dube and Ruturaj Gaikwad shared their cricket insights with US diplomats in Mumbai.
The flagship event kicks off on June 1 with co-hosts USA taking on Canada in the opening match. With the World Cup fever in full swing, top Indian stars Mohammed Siraj, Gaikwad and his wife Utkarsha Pawar, Dube and Jitesh Sharma gave a lesson in the 'basics' of cricket to the US diplomats.
“As they head to the US for the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup, Indian cricketers Mohammed Siraj, Utkarsha Pawar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube and Jitesh Sharma teamed up to teach US diplomats the basics of cricket. Did they rise to the challenge,” the US Consulate General, Mumbai, captioned an Instagram post.
While Siraj imparted bowling tips, Gaikwad and Dube imparted batting techniques to the diplomats. At the end of the video, the Indian players and US diplomats sent their “best wishes” to India for the upcoming tournament.
The first batch of Indian players, including captain Rohit Sharma, fast-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and number one T20I batsman Suriya Kumar Yadav, left for the US last Sunday.
Besides captain Rohit, Bumrah and Suryakumar, head coach Rahul Dravid, batting coach Bikram Rathour, batsmen Shubman Gill, all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Dube, pace bowlers Siraj, Arshdeep Singh and Khalil Ahmed, spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Akshar Patel were also caught at Mumbai airport.
India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5 at the newly constructed Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.
Meanwhile, the most anticipated bout between India and Pakistan will be played on June 9. The teams will then face the tournament's co-hosts, the United States (June 12) and Canada (June 15), to conclude Group A's matches.
With this tournament, India will be looking to end their drought of winning an ICC trophy since winning the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013. Since then, India have reached the 50-over World Cup final in 2023, the semi-finals in 2015 and 2019, the ICC World Test Championship title races in 2021 and 2023, the T20 World Cup final in 2014 and the semi-finals in 2016 and 2022 but have failed to win the big ICC trophy.
India are looking to win their first T20 WC title since winning the inaugural tournament in South Africa in 2007. In the last tournament, held in Australia in 2022, India lost by 10 wickets to England in the semi-finals.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suriya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Subs: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khalil Ahmed, Avesh Khan. (Ani)
