With the goal of ending its 11-year wait for an ICC trophy, Team India will kick off its campaign in the T20 World Cup next month. Prior to the competition, there is a lot of conjecture over India’s selection tactics, and one of the main points of contention is the starting lineup for the team. The main topic of discussion is Virat Kohli, who has been a brilliant opener for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the current Indian Premier League, scoring 708 runs in 14 innings.

Despite his outstanding run total, there are concerns about his strike rate at the top of the order, which has sparked debate about whether he should continue to start games for the national side. Former captain of Australia Ricky Ponting claims that Along with captain Rohit Sharma, Kohli will be one of the first picks for the Indian team and begin the batting.

“Yashasvi Jaiswal is in that squad, and one thing they don’t have a lot of in their team is left-hand batters,” Ponting said to ICC. “They (selectors) still have a decision to make.”

“They have to decide with Jaiswal, but I think they’ll go with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as openers.”

While going into great depth regarding the criticism that Kohli receives, Ponting maintained that India must surround him with the “right guys” who can play aggressively. With Virat, it’s humorous. I believe that some in India are constantly looking for an excuse not to choose him or a reason why he might not be as talented as some of these other players in the Twenty20 game.

In my opinion, Kohli is my top choice for India.

“At the top, he can fulfil his function. With the right players surrounding him, such as Suryakumar Yadav, who can score runs, Rohit Sharma is bound to have a good strike rate. The other guys are free to enter and conduct themselves there.

Not as effective as experience and class

Undoubtedly, Kohli’s exceptional consistency has strengthened his argument for the opening position. The seasoned Indian hitter has performed at a noticeably greater strike rate in the last four IPL games. In RCB’s group-stage victory over Punjab Kings, he struck for 92 runs off of only 47 balls. He also set the tone for his team’s crucial 42-run opening partnership against Chennai Super Kings. He currently has an overall strike percentage of 155.60 in the competition.

Ponting emphasised that it is challenging to replace a player like Kohli since he is one of the guys who gets the “job done.”

“I recall this conversation and a few more that I had with the ICC regarding the rumours that Virat wasn’t on their team last year, but when the big games rolled around, he was among the players who performed well,” Ponting said.

“Therefore, you cannot replace that kind of class and experience.”

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In 2024, Hardik Pandya had a dismal Indian Premier League season. The Mumbai Indians’ campaign was marred by controversy from the beginning to the conclusion, as they finished the season with just four victories, bottom of the league. Before the first ball was played in the 2024 Indian Premier League, tensions were high at the MI camp. Many Mumbai Indians supporters were not happy with Hardik Pandya’s selection as captain, and they took to social media to express their disapproval of the management.

Hardik Pandya of the Mumbai Indians reacts to being benched during the Lucknow Super Giants vs. Mumbai Indians IPL 2024 cricket match.

Hardik was jeered throughout the first few games of the season at Wankhede Stadium, demonstrating that nothing had changed. The fact that the all-rounder’s personal performances fell well short of expectations did not help. Pandya amassed 216 runs at an average of 18,000 and a strike rate of 143.04 in 14 games, with a career-high score of 46. In addition, he claimed 11 wickets at a dismal 35.18 average and 10.75 economy rate.

Though Hardik did manage to earn a berth in Team India’s T20 World Cup roster, concerns over the star all-rounder’s form remain as the team prepares for the competition in less than a month. Though Hardik has played for India in the past, former player and captain Suresh Raina expressed little worry over his difficulties, saying that all will be forgotten when he “performs against Pakistan.”

“He’s performed really well (for India). Someone’s transient bad behaviour does not define them. Everyone will compliment him when he plays well against Pakistan in the World Cup, Raina stated.

Over the past few years, Hardik has been an important part of the Indian T20I team. In 2023, he oversaw the team while Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were away, concentrating mostly on the ODI World Cup. With Rohit taking over the leadership responsibilities, the senior players made their comeback to T20Is earlier this year in the bilateral series against Afghanistan.

Hardik, T20 World Cup deputy captain

After captaining Rohit Sharma in the IPL, Hardik will have a different role as the team’s leader when he enters the T20 World Cup, where India will be attempting to win their first ICC championship in eleven years. Instead, he will be playing under the star opener.

The all-rounder was selected as Rohit’s backup for the major event; India’s World Cup campaign kicks off on June 5 against Ireland and continues on June 8 against bitter rivals Pakistan.

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As if Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya’s frustrations from the 2024 Indian Premier League weren’t enough. The all-rounder suffered a blow even before clubs could begin planning for the upcoming campaign. Hardik’s punishment for keeping a slow over rate in MI’s final game of the season against the Lucknow Super Giants meant that, BCCI stated late on Friday night, he would not be eligible to participate in the opening game of the next season.

“Hardik Pandya, the Mumbai Indians captain, has been fined after his team maintained a slow over rate during their TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match against Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on May 17,” the BCCI stated.

Since MI doesn’t have any more games this season, the suspension will start at the first game of the following one. Even if MI chooses to continue using Hardik as their permanent captain, they will need to play a fresh captain for their tournament debut the following year.

After Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant, Hardik became the second player this year to get a suspension for an overrate offence. Similar to Pant, Hardik received a one-match suspension for committing his third overrate infraction of the season. The MI players, including the Impact Player versus LSG, were fined ₹12 Lakh, or 50% of their respective match costs, and the MI captain was also fined ₹30 lakh.

“Pandya was fined INR 30 lakhs and prohibited from playing in the team’s next game since it was his team’s third infringement of the season in relation to minimum over rate violations under the IPL’s Code of Conduct. The Impact Player and the other members of the Playing XI were each fined INR 12 lakhs or half of their respective match costs, whichever was lower, according to the BCCI.

MI’s disappointing season with Pandya

As captain and a player for MI this season, Pandya had an unmemorable campaign. In 14 matches, he scored a pitiful average of 18 runs, totaling only 218 runs. Despite taking 11 wickets, his economy rate of 10.75 was quite concerning. As a captain, he was unable to motivate the team, and as a result, the five-time winners finished bottom in the standings with only four victories in 14 games.

With great enthusiasm, Pandya returned to the MI lineup, although the club won just four of his fourteen games as captain.”It was really challenging. In the end, our poor cricketing performance cost us the entire season,” Pandya remarked following MI’s 18-run defeat to the Lucknow Super Giants.

It’s a world of professionals. We must constantly present ourselves in the best possible light. However, collectively, we were unable to play intelligent or high-caliber cricket.”

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