Highlights
- Rahul Dravid has denied Jasprit Bumrah being ruled out of the World Cup
- India is currently playing a three match T20I series against South Africa
- The Indian World Cup squad will leave for Australia on October 6, 2022
IND vs SA, 2nd T20I: Rohit Sharma and co. are currently playing against Temba Bavuma's South Africa. Both India and South Africa are looking at this series as a chance to get their plans in place just before they head into the all-important World Cup. The Indian team will fly to Australia on October 6, 2022, and they will start their campaign against Pakistan on October 23, 2022. As of now, India are leading the three-match T20I series by a margin of 1-0.
India has faced a major setback ahead of the marquee tournament as they have lost Ravindra Jadeja who is now replaced by Axar Patel. With clouds of doubt looming over Jasprit Bumrah, the Indian team finds itself in a rough spot as death bowling seems like a huge concern. The current Indian team management has been facing a lot of criticism. Fans and cricketing pundits all over the globe have raised serious questions over Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid's never-ending urge for experimentations. Many feel that the squad is still not settled and this might diminish India's chances of winning the World Cup. Just before the second T20I between India and South Africa that will be played in Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati, Rahul Dravid has opened up on his perspective surrounding all the experimentation that has been going on.
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Dravid in a very candid way said:
We have always been very clear about the kind of combination that we want. You certainly can't pick players eleven months in advance without knowing the cricketing conditions and without knowing the quality of cricket that they have to offer. For a while, we have been extremely clear about the kind of skills that we want to have at our disposal. We have our bases covered and that reflects in the squad that we have picked up for the World Cup. We have been very particular about picking up different kinds of bowlers, and batsmen who can showcase different shades to their games whenever the need arises. Not everything will be perfect, but to a large extent, we have been able to achieve what we want. It is very easy for people to comment from the outside without any knowledge of the challenges that we face in the dressing room.
The Wall aka Rahul Dravid also opened up on Jasprit Bumrah and said that he is hopeful about the speedster making it to the World Cup. Dravid added that Bumrah has been sent to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and till the time he doesn't get an official confirmation, Bumrah will continue to stay in the mix and India's plans for the World Cup.
