Cricket News

2024 T20 World Cup: Sanjay Manjrekar backs this young star to repeat Rohit Sharma’s heroics

Former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar is already looking forward to the T20 World Cup 2024 next year. India haven’t been able to win a global title since 2013. Rohit Sharma came close to winning the title during the ODI World Cup 2023 recently. Those hopes were dashed after Travis Head’s century helped Australia win the cup for the 6^th time.

Team India haven’t won the T20I World Cup since it won the inaugural edition in 2007 under former India captain MS Dhoni. Despite boasting some huge names in the format, the Men in Blue have always fallen short.

Sanjay Manjrekar throws weight behind young batter –

Manjrekar has thrown his weight behind India’s young opening batter Yashasvi Jaiswal to do well for India in the T20 World Cup. According to the 58-year-old, the youngster can replicate Rohit Sharma’s form during the ODI World Cup 2023 tournament.

During a chat with Star Sports India, the former India batter said “India can field another T20I team that can compete against other international teams and that’s basically what the Indian Premier League (IPL) has done. If India is looking to reinvent their approach, Yashasvi Jaiswal could be the man for India. He can do what Rohit Sharma did in the ODI World Cup 2023 for India”

Rohit scored 597 runs with the bat and gave India constant good starts during the tournament. The 36-year-old adopted the strategy of taking the attack to the opposition with good rewards.

Speaking further on the same subject, Sunil Gavaskar chimed in “The way he started against Jofra Archer in the IPL was impressive. He is a very good talent. Jaiswal brings the left-handedness as well in the top order. He sees the ball and hits the ball. Jaiswal is an all-format player”

Yashasvi Jaiswal had a great IPL 2023 season and scored 124 runs off 62 balls against Mumbai Indians. These feats helped the youngster find a place in the Indian team for the West Indian tour. The 21-year-old also went on to make his test debut and scored 171 runs in his debut innings.

With the lack of clarity over Rohit’s immediate T20I future, Yashasvi Jaiswal could play a huge role. The pairing of Shubman Gill and Jaiswal at the top of the order could be beneficial for India. Ruturaj Gaikwad has also played some amazing cricket over the last few months to put himself in contention. The competition for places is heating up ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup next June.