New York [US], June 4 (ANI): Ahead of their opener against Ireland in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, India head coach Rahul Dravid said that they are preparing in the same manner they do for Pakistan or Australia.
India will start their T20 WC campaign against Ireland in New York on July 5.
The Karnataka-born asserted that in the T20 format, you can’t take any team lightly. He further said that they will not take the Ireland side lightly.
“We are preparing for this match in a similar way as we are preparing for Pakistan and Australia. There will be no shortage in our preparation. We know that they recently defeated Pakistan. We know that Ireland plays a lot of T20 cricket. In this format, you can’t take anyone lightly or with a look. We will definitely not take them lightly. We know that we respect them a lot,” Dravid said in the pre-match press conference.
Dravid also said that though the tournament will involve them travelling a lot, going from the USA to the Caribbean after the Group Stage, the team is not complaining since it is the same thing for everyone.
“Everyone has the same schedule. Schedules are tight. Calendars are extremely tight. Yes, it’s going to be challenging travelling from one venue to the other in the West Indies. But again, no complaints. It’s the same for everyone. I mean, it’s not that only India is going to have to travel, play and travel. Every other team is going to also have to play and travel if they go all the way. So fine, we have to deal with it. We have to get on with it. And we have to play the best cricket we can,” said Dravid.
The head coach also said that it is great that the squad is being rated highly by many experts and ex-players.
“When I look across the tournament like this, you see that we are, of course, a strong team. But there are other very strong teams as well in this tournament. So I’m sure there are four or five teams that everyone is probably rating,” he concluded.
India will start their T20 World Cup campaign on June 5 against Ireland at the newly constructed Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.
The blockbuster clash between India and Pakistan will take place on June 9. India 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 squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Hardik Pandya (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. SirajReserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan. (ANI)