Thisara Perera predicts Rohit Sharma-led India to do "something special" in T20 World Cup 2024
Published - 22 Feb 2024, 07:13 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:27 AM
Former Sri Lanka all-rounder Thisara Perera has backed India to do special things in the T20 World Cup 2024. The tournament will be played in the West Indies and the USA late this year in June.
India won the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup. Since then they are yet to win the silverware for the second time. In 2014, they lost the final against the Sri Lanka team which Perera was a part of.
Australia won the T20 World Cup in 2021 followed by England in 2022. Perera while speaking to ANI felt that this Indian team can do special things in the tournament. Previously India had a 10-match winning run in the World Cup 2023 before they lost to Australia in the final in Ahmedabad.
“I feel India can do something special in this T20 World Cup, also because we saw the ODI World Cup, where they were the unbeaten side till the finals. I think they can do something special in the T20 World Cup as well,” said Perera.
Thisara Perera Backs Rohit Sharma as India’s Captain In T20 World Cup 2024
BCCI Secretary Jay Shah recently confirmed that Rohit Sharma will lead the Indian team in the ICC event. There are positive chances of Virat Kohli also playing in the tournament given his form in the ODI World Cup where he scored 765 runs in the tournament. Perera backed Rohit to win the T20 World Cup for India as captain. Under him, India lost the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2022 against England.
“I am always going with the mature players. I feel Rohit did a great job for the past few years. Before the World Cup, I don’t think there’s any need to change captaincy. I prefer to go with Rohit Sharma,” Perera added.
Also Read: ‘Ravichandran Ashwin is one of the toughest bowlers I’ve ever faced’ – AB de Villiers
Thisara Perera also sounded confident while speaking about Sri Lanka’s chances in the tournament. He said that the team is on the right track with their recent crop of players. Sri Lanka recently played against Afghanistan at home beating them across formats. They won the T20I series 2-1. They finished runners-up twice and won the T20 World Cup title in 2014 beating India in the final.
“I think now we are on the right track, we are getting winning habit. It’s good for the Sri Lankan National Cricket Team. Hopefully, we can do something special in this T20 World Cup,” he added.
India last played a T20I series against Afghanistan where they clean swept their Asian rivals. Before Afghanistan, under Suryakumar Yadav, India won a T20I series against Australia after the World Cup.
Indi are the top-ranked T20I team followed by New Zealand, England, and Australia. The T20I series India played against Afghanistan was their last before the T20 World Cup. The Indian players will now play in IPL 2024 before the team for the T20 World Cup is announced.
“The league will kick off on March 22 in Chennai,” informed IPL chairman Arun Singh Dhumal.
Chennai Super Kings are the winners of the previous season. They defeated Gujarat Titans in the final to win the title for the fifth time. Meanwhile, the schedule for IPL 2024 is out with CSK and RCB playing the campaign opener on March 22 at Chepauk.
