T20 World Cup: First batch of Indian team leaves for New York from Mumbai

Mumbai, May 25 (IANS): The first batch of Indian team, comprising captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid, is leaving for New York from Mumbai on Saturday night to participate in the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup starting from June 1.

As per various visuals posted on social media platforms, the first batch of players, along with Indian team support staff, left for New York via Dubai and comprised of players who are not participating in the business end stage of IPL 2024.

Apart from Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dube, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, along with reserve players Shubman Gill and Khaleel Ahmed were seen entering the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport for their travel to New York journey.

Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya were not seen in the visuals of the Indian team’s departure to New York, with some reports suggesting the latter is in London and could link up with Rohit & Co from there. Sanju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal and Yashasvi Jaiswal, along with reserve players Avesh Khan and Rinku Singh are expected to join the Indian side in New York in a couple of days.

Samson, Chahal, Jaiswal and Avesh wrapped up their IPL 2024 commitments on Friday with Rajasthan Royals’ 36-run loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 2 at Chennai, while Rinku will play for Kolkata Knight Riders in the tournament’s title clash at Chennai on Sunday.

India is set to play their lone warm-up game against Bangladesh at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on June 1. Their Men’s T20 World Cup campaign begins on June 5 against Group A opponents Ireland in New York, followed by a highly anticipated clash against Pakistan on June 9.

India will then face co-hosts USA on June 12 in New York, before going to Florida to take on Canada on June 15 to wrap up their Group A league matches.

India, captained by Rohit Sharma, were the inaugural winners of the Men’s T20 World Cup in 2007 and are aiming to claim the silverware in the upcoming tournament hosted by the West Indies and USA, who were awarded joint hosting rights of the competition in 2021.

In the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup, 20 teams will be divided into four groups of five each for the first round. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super Eight stage, where teams will be split into two groups of four each. Teams seeded first and second in their groups in the first round will retain that seeding in the Super Eight, provided they qualify.

A1, B2, C1 and D2 finishers will be in one group, while A2, B1, C2 and D1 will be slotted in the other group. The top two sides from two groups of the Super Eight will advance to the semifinals.

The semifinals will be held in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago on June 26 and 27 respectively, while the final will be held in Barbados on June 29.