T20 World Cup 2024: Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma left to rot as Ravi Shastri lists India's X-Factor

Former Team India head coach and commentator, Ravi Shastri, overlooked the skipper Rohit Sharma and batting maestro Virat Kohli while unveiling his top two key players for the Men in Blue at the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies.

Shastri named the two left-handed big-hitters as key to the Indian cricket team’s title hopes at the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024, and they are two debutants, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube. Both Jaiswal and Dube have earned their spots in India's 15-member squad for the mega tournament.

Jaiswal's exceptional performance in the ICC World Test Championship series against England, where he set a new record for the highest run tally, has already garnered a lot of attention with his batting prowess across the globe. He has also amassed 502 runs in just 16 innings for India so far.

These two gentlemen you've got to watch out for: Ravi Shastri

On the other hand, Dube has showcased his explosive batting prowess in the ongoing IPL 2024, where he has already smashed 26 sixes in just 11 matches for the CSK. Shastri hailed Dube as a match-winner and a great player of spin. He has so far amassed 350 runs in 11 IPL 2024 matches.

Ravi Shastri was quoted as saying by ICC: “The two gentlemen you've got to watch out for, and both are left-handers, both playing their first World Cup. 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.”

Shastri added, “But there's someone in the middle order, please watch out for Shivam Dube, 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. 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. So, enjoy it, watch out for this left-hander — he's big, he's strapping, and he hits a long ball.”

At the end, Shastri also highlighted the significance of Dube's role in the Indian team, especially in the middle order, for quickly turning around the game's momentum in crucial situations. He also lauded Dube's ability to adapt against fast bowlers and his potential to boost India's scoring rate with his high strike rate, often soaring around 200.

Shastri believes that Dube's explosive batting style can help India achieve competitive totals of 190s or 200s, which are a must in major tournaments like the T20 World Cup. He described Dube as a powerful left-handed batter and hailed his powerful hitting abilities. Notably, T20 World Cup 2024 will get underway on June 1 in the USA and Caribbean.

Here’s India’s T20 World Cup 2024 Squad:

Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj. Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.