Team India no more dependent on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, both labelled old warhorse

Former cricketer Deep Dasgupta spoke about the changes that have occurred in India's T20I set-up and also shed light on Virat Kohli's and Rohit Sharma's form. 

Deep Dasgupta made these comments in light of Rohit Sharma's India taking on Jos Buttler's England in the 2nd semi-final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. This match is going to be the replay of one of the SFs of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia where the English contingent had defeated the Men in Blue by 10 wickets. 

England then went on to claim their 2nd T20 WC title by beating Pakistan in the finale by 5-wickets at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground. If they are to get their hands on the trophy once again, then the Three Lions will have to beat an in-form Indian team, which is undefeated in the tournament after the Group and Super 8 stages. 

Rohit Sharma's side are coming on the back of a sensational 24-run victory over Mitchell Marsh's Australian side in their last match of the Super 8s. With that victory, they not only knocked the Aussies out of the competition but also reinstated their position as one of the favorites to clinch the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in Barbados.

Despite India's journey to the finale, there is still one missing puzzle in the team and that is none other than Virat Kohli. The right-hand batter is yet to hit his peak form and he only has probably 2 games left in the World Cup to make changes. Kohli only has the chance to turn it around in the semi-final because, in the finale, he might not be favored by his luck.  

Ahead of the all-important match later tonight, Deep Dasgupta expressed his views on this Indian team. 

Deep Dasgupta is happy with the changes in India's T20 setup 

While speaking to ESPNcricinfo yesterday, Deep Dasgupta claimed that he finds this Indian team as a changed T20I side than it was a year ago. Dasgupta said that the Indians are no longer hoping for their top order to click in every single match, something that has helped the team immensely.

"The set-up of this Indian team has changed. If you look at, let's say a year ago, the focus would always be on how much the top three is contributing. But this Indian team, it seems they are not thinking along those lines. It's like we have got 8 batters, let's see what all 8 batters can do and not just the top three." - Dasgupta told ESPNcricinfo. 

Dasgupta says it's good for the Indian team to not solely rely on Virat Kohli 

Deep Dasgupta went on to further claim that the lowered dependency on Virat Kohli is a good thing for the Indian team. Dasgupta then spoke on Kohli's form. He said that the batter, despite scoring just 66 runs from 6 matches, is trying his best to keep doing the basics right and claimed that the match against Australia and Bangladesh is a positive sign for him.