With a bit of luck, Rohit Sharma-led India can bring home the T20 World Cup 2022: Sunil Gavaskar

With T20 World Cup 2022 around the corner, India will be focusing on lifting the coveted trophy for the second time as after winning the inaugural edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in 2007 under MS Dhoni’s leadership, they have failed to win the top prize again.

The last edition of the T20 WC, held in the UAE in 2021, turned out to be a nightmare for India as it saw the Virat Kohli-led Men in Blue bow out of the marquee tournament in the Super 12 round. With new skipper- Rohit Sharma in charge, India will try to end the 15-year drought by winning the T20 World Cup this time.

Recently, the BCCI announced the Indian squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, which is set to be played in Australia from October 16, and the exclusion of some players, especially veteran pacer Mohammed Shami, created a massive uproar among fans and cricket experts.

However, amid all the debates apropos the selection, former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has backed Team India to win the trophy if luck favours them.

“I believe that this team, with a bit of luck that every team needs, can bring home the trophy,” Gavaskar told The Indian Express. “Once the team is selected, then it’s our India team and we all have to back it. We shouldn’t question selections and omissions as it can demoralise some of the players,” the batting great added.

Gavaskar’s comments came at a time when numerous former cricketers have expressed disappointment over Shami’s exclusion from the squad.

“I would have picked Mohammed Shami, Umran Malik and Shubman Gill for the T20 World Cup. Would have given them a long run in T20Is because they all had a brilliant IPL season,” former chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar said on Tuesday.

“Surprised at the omission of Shreyas Iyer and Md. Shami from the main squad. Shreyas Iyer instead of Deepak Hooda and Md. Shami in the place of Harshal Patel would be my choice,” former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin said recently.

It is worth noting that Shami hasn’t played a single T20I after India’s horrific ICC T20 World Cup 2021 campaign in the UAE, where they failed to make it to even the knockout stage.

What’s more intriguing is that Shami has been ignored by the selectors despite having a memorable IPL 2022 campaign with debutants Gujarat Titans. The fast bowler finished the season with 20 wickets in 16 games at 24.40 as the Titans lifted the trophy in their maiden season.

India’s final 15-man squad for T20 World Cup 2022:

Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dinesh Karthik (WK), Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh

Standby players – Mohammed Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Chahar