Virat Kohli not assured of spot in India T20I squad, Ishan Kishan may be No 3 batter: Report

The ODI World Cup might have just got over less than a month ago, but the focus has swiftly shifted to the 2024 T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA scheduled for June. Team India recently began their buildup towards the showpiece tournament as a Suryakumar Yadav-led young outfit defeated Australia 4-1 in a five-match series recently. With focus being on the shorter format leading upto the T20 World Cup, the team management have decided to give young players like Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rinku Singh a longer run, thereby leaving out the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Rohit and Kohli have not played for India since the World Cup final defeat to Australia and were rested for the white-ball series against South Africa that starts from 10 December. This would give the selectors just the three T20Is against Afghanistan in January to get a clearer picture regarding India’s full strength squad for the T20 World Cup. However, according to a report in Dainik Jagran, Rohit and Jasprit Bumrah remain automatic choices for the T20 World Cup next summer but Kohli’s spot in the squad has not yet been assured. The BCCI are reportedly looking at Ishan Kishan as a possible number three batter given his attacking prowess. The report, however, adds that the BCCI would have a talk with Kohli regarding his future in T20Is. Should Kishan be India’s preferred No 3 batter, that would mean the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh and Ravindra Jadeja fill the remaining batting slots. This would also mean that Kohli would not find a place in the playing XI. The report goes onto state that BCCI secretary Jay Shah, vice president Rajiv Shukla, treasurer Ashish Shelar as well as the selectors present during a meeting have let Rohit know that they want him to lead India in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Rohit and Kohli have not played a T20I for India since their humiliating loss to England in the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final.