Sunil Gavaskar rates India's T20 World Cup 2024 squad: This team can win the cup

Hello and welcome to lights, camera and cricket. The big story at the moment is the team that has been picked for the T20 World Cup, the 15 men that will travel to the US and the West Indies playing for India at the all important tournament and to breakdown that entire squad and to analyse it were joined by former India captain and an expert at India Today in Sunny Gavaskar Saibai, thank you so much for speaking to India Today. First things first, and I’m going to, you know, break the squad down into individual. I was just looking at social media. The number one trend happens to be a certain Rinku Singh. He’s not made it to the 15 members. Scott that has been picked. Your first reaction on the big surprise, which at the moment seems to be wrinkle. Well, I mean because maybe his form in this particular edition of the IPL hasn’t been great. He hasn’t had that many opportunities. Maybe that’s the reason why they have not picked him. I don’t know the reason, but this Indian team looks a very, very good team, no question about it. It’s got plenty of, you know, experience. They’ve got some real big hitters. They’ve got a variety in their bowling as well. Looks a very, very good team. This Indian team, it is looking like a good team. It is the team that many expected. So is this the kind of team that you were expecting while you were watching the IPL as well because everyone had an eye on how the Indian team is going to look like. Are there any big surprises for you you thought could be there or somebody that’s really coming you thought may not be able to make the cut? Yeah, I think maybe, you know there was one player who could have made it but who didn’t make it. But that’s that’s you know, in my in my in my book. But that’s OK That’s not a that’s not a huge thing because you know all all the players in this in this squad are capable of you know, doing well and bringing the the cup back home. The one thing that we notice in this team is that they’ve got 4 spinners in this court. Now that’s a luxury sometime the Indian team does not have. You’ve got an Akshar, you’ve got Jadeja Yuzi Chahal, Akuldeep Yadav and only three fast bowlers. Overall, a lot of time those 3 fast bowlers would be playing in the 11. Are you a bit surprised with the extra spinner they’ve gone with or it is based on condition? What do you reckon? Well, there’s Hardik Pandya to to bowl as well for as the 4th seam bowler. So maybe that’s the reason why they’ve gone with both spin bowlers. The pitches in the West Indies where they’re going to play the matches, it’ll be there’ll be a little more help for the spinners than for the quick bowlers and that’s one of the reasons why they’ve gone. Also what we have seen in the IPL currently, the ball comes on to the back quite nicely. It goes also out of the park quite nicely. So clearly, I think the slower the delivery, the harder it is for the batters to it and that’s perhaps the reason why they’ve gone with the extra spinner. The biggest debates I was over who is going to be the wicket keeper batter for India. They’ve gone in with two and they were spoiled for choices. Let’s be honest. You know the two that they’ve selected. Apart from that, there was a KL, Rahul, Ishaan Kishan. There was a jitesh who was the incumbent. Actually, the last time India was playing AT20I, it was Jitesh Sharma, the first choice wicket keeper batter. Then there was a Dhruv jurel as well. Are you happy with the two that have been picked? And what do you think could be the reasons that those two are the ones that have made the cut very happy, very happy. Firstly for rishab on coming back to the Indian cricket team. It it is something that not just the Indian cricket fans but I think the the cricket fans all over the world have been waiting for to see this man because he’s a crowd puller. He brings in the crowds you know he, he he’s the one who who’s made taken the game to another level and he’s batting well. He’s keeping extraordinarily well. So it’s good to see him And then Sanju Samson another man who’s been really letting his bat to the talking. So both these batters both these batter keepers in the team that that’s a very good thing for Indian cricket. You you mentioned cyber earlier that there was a player that you would have liked probably could have made the cut but that’s OK who who would that be? I was thinking more like Tina Trajan the the the left hand base bowler because he’s been bowling exceedingly well. So I thought that maybe they could have been in the team, but that’s OK. I think the the team bowlers that they’ve got, they’ve all got the experience, so really no issues with that. The other one that that has, you know raised a few eyebrows by Shubman Gill not making it because remember he’s a captain of an IPL team at the moment. He’s an all format player, has struck form. We saw in the Test series was the highest run getter last time around the IPL you reckon because there are too many contenders for that opening slot. Maybe that’s the reason he’s missed out. Maybe if he was part of any other country, more often than not, a Shubman Gill would have made the cut. Yes, that that, you know, that is, that is the blessing that India has that they’ve got so many players. In fact, if you make a second team, that team will also be capable of lifting this cup with a bit of luck going its way. So sometimes, you know, that happens. Sometimes you have to leave a good player out. And that’s that’s what seems to have happened, which would run again. Perhaps the form in the last few matches has been patchy. He started the IPL very well, but the last few matches have been patchy and which has cost Gujarat Titans victories. Because when Shuman gave his scores, Gujarat Titans have been winning. When he has not been scoring, they have not been winning. And maybe again the current form is what went against him. So anyway, if I was to play the devils advocate one, you know, school of thought suggests that you needed a fresh approach in T20 cricket. Now I was just trying to compare this team to the last two T20 World Cups and India havent had a great time in both those T20 World Cups. 2021 they were knocked out first on 2022 they lost in A1 sided encounter to England in the semifinal. Its pretty much the same team that has been picked now as far as the 15 is concerned. I think a Shivam Dubey, Yash Ashwi, Jaiswal and to an extent of Kuldeep Yadav I think are the only new names as such. Overall, because you mentioned it’s a good team overall, do you think that this team is capable of challenging the best in the world considering it’s a similar team that has gone for two previous World Cups and not done best well. But there have been you know, changes in attitude, changes in approach which we saw in the World Cup, the 50 overs World Cup as well. And so that all goes well for the T20 World Cup as World Cup as well. I I’m very confident that this team is capable of bringing the the Cup home because this team has got like I said, great batting lineup, great middle order batting, great finishing finishers and also you know terrific variety in the bowling. So I’m, I’m very, very, very optimistic about about this team. OK. So I’m going to do an exercise with you now that the 15 is announced. If Sunny Gavaskar was to make his 11 for the first game, now we’ve seen the form that they’ve displayed the kind of combination that you know the Indian team could go with. How is your 11 looking like? What we’ll do is we’ll try and break it up. Let’s start with the openers, who would be our two openers? You know come the first match that India has to play against Ireland, I would I would have left hand, right hand combination that open in the Test matches as well. I would have them to open the batting goalie at three. I would have Surya Kumar Yadav at 4, Rishabh Pant 5, Hardik Pandya 6, Ravinder Jadeja 7, eight. I will keep open at the moment. Nine would be Jasprit Bumrah. Then would be Ashteep Singh and 11 again, depending on who we are playing. Depending on where we are playing, I would either go in for a spinner or or a pacer and that middle, middle name that I left behind after eight would be Kuldeep Yadav. OK, so that’s the, you know, 11 that Mister Gavaskar would go with. Overall, Sir, you have one very crucial cog in the wheel for the Indian team and you’ve put him in your 11 as well and you’re happy that he’s there is going to be Hardik Pandya because he brings a different dimension. The only fast bowling all rounder as such that we have with the Indian team while his batting, you know, some good innings in this IPL, some not so good innings, its his bowling that has, you know, raised a few concerns. Would you be worried about that going in the World Cup or do you think conditions there are different and and maybe you may not need him to bowl 4 overs. How do you see Hardik Pandya, the bowler, contributing in the World Cup? Look, I think you know there’s a big difference between playing the IPL and playing for your country. Playing for your country just brings out something different in every every player and Hardik Pandya will be a different player. He’s had to face a lot of issues in this particular tournament. He’s handled it quite well. So when he, when he goes without with The Who goes overseas and has to play for India, I think he’ll be in a completely different frame of mind and that that’s going to be a much more positive frame of mind than may maybe what we’ve seen over here in this tournament. So Hardik Pandya will make a contribution with both bat and ball in this tournament, in this in the World Cup. All right. So Sai Gavaskar, you know, summing up that entire team for us. And anyways, thank you so much for taking our time. But before I let you go, one final question. Now that we’ve seen and during the IPL, we’ve seen a few overseas batters perform, some overseas bowlers perform and I was taking a look at some other scores. Most of them have made it to their 15, whether it is, you know, the South African team, the English team, we’ve seen the New Zealand team as well. Overall, now that you see the composition of this Indian team, do you reckon they are, they are a top 4 contender, they are a title contender. How is the entire unit it looking like to you? They’re a title contender. Without a question, they’re a title contender. Look at at the international level. Sometimes you need a bit of luck. And if if this Indian team has just a little bit of luck, then then I’m very confident that after 2007 the T20 World Cup will come back to India. Should we be worried about the fact that, you know, IPL and the T20 World Cup not too much of a gap or do you think, no, it works the other way? They’ll all go in with some good form, with some T20 cricket behind them, then go with good rhythm. Just about everybody will go with good rhythm. The bowlers will have bowled a fair, fair number of overs. I know it’s only four overs in AT20 format, but they’ll have got some bowling under their belt. The batters will have had enough time out in the middle. Some of them will have scored 80s, nineties, hundreds. So clearly, you know this team will go with that little break. They’ll get a week break, they they play and with that week break before they they go to America, I think they will be, they will be a little bit refreshed as well, but at the same time not not rusty. It’s very important that teams don’t go there rusty. They will be absolutely well oiled. And then having had a little service break in between the IPL and the first match. All right, Sunny Gavaskar, thank you so much for taking our time, speaking to us on India Today and giving us your perspective, one on the entire score, giving us your 11 as well. And why do I have a feeling its going to be pretty much that same 11 when India take on Ireland in their first game at the T20 World Cup? But thank you so much for speaking to us on India Today. And let’s now sum up the score for you, the 15 that the Indian selectors have gone with, you know, Yash Ashwi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, you have the usual suspects. You’ve got a Surya Kumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey in there. You’ve gone in with four spinners as well this time around and that is something that is going away from the norm. Usually you see three or four, that’s what they’ve gone with. The two wicket keeper batter were the crucial spots and those two have been grabbed by a Sanju Sampson and a rishab pan spinners. As I spoke about Kuldeep, you’ve got a Yuzi Chahal, Akshat Patel, Ravinder Jadeja and your fast bowlers Ash Deep Singh, Mohammad Siraj and Jaspreet Bomraj. That’s how the Indian Indian Scott at the moment is looking like. I’m afraid that’s all the time that we have on this special edition of Lights, Camera and Cricket.