After taking a break from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Virat Kohli is reportedly set to rejoin his teammate ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 warm-up game against Bangladesh. Kohli didn’t fly with the first batch of Indian players, having decided to spend some time with family before the T20 World Cup commitments had him flying all the way to the United States of America. As Kohli sought break, doubts emerged over his availability for the warm-up clash against Bangladesh on June 01. But, it has now been reported that the talismanic top-order batter will be ready for the practice game.
“He will reach New York before the warm-up vs Bangladesh on June 1. Whether he plays or not in the warm-up will be management’s call – whether they feel there is enough gap between him landing and the warm-up fixture,” News 18 quoted a source saying.
The likes of Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, etc. have already reached New York. The second batch of players, including stars left on Monday morning while a few others like Sanju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan, and Yashasvi Jaiswal will be joining the squad soon.
India’s T20 World Cup campaign begins on June 5 against Ireland at the newly constructed Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. India versus Pakistan clash will take place on June 9. They will later play tournament co-hosts USA (June 12) and Canada (June 15) to wrap up their Group A matches.
In the tournament, India will be aiming to end their ICC trophy drought, having last won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013. Since then, India has reached the 50-over World Cup final in 2023, semifinal in 2015 and 2019, the title clash of the ICC World Test Championship in 2021 and 2023, T20 WC final in 2014, semifinals in 2016 and 2022 but failed to secure a big ICC trophy.
India will be aiming to win their first T20 WC title ever since they won the inaugural edition of the tournament back in 2007 in South Africa. In the last edition held in Australia in 2022, India lost to England by 10 wickets in the semifinals.
With ANI Inputs
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