The Indian team will aim to end its 11-year drought for an ICC title when it lands in the Americas to take part in the 2024 T20 World Cup. The marquee tournament, which begins next month, will enter its ninth edition; India's last win at the World Cup came way back in 2007 when it was played for the first time. In the previous edition, India faced a one-sided 10-wicket defeat to eventual champions England in the semi-final.

Since then, India's senior batting duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma skipped the T20Is, with Hardik Pandya taking over the captaincy duties throughout the previous year. However, the duo returned to the shortest format earlier this year in India's series against Afghanistan and retained its place for the T20 World Cup. Rohit will also be leading the side, with Hardik being named as his deputy.

Former England cricketer David Lloyd, speaking to TalkSport, was severely critical of India's approach at the ICC tournaments. During a debate on why India fail to step up in the high-pressure situations of the knockouts, Bumble, as Lloyd is fondly known, insisted that the Indian team doesn't want to take risks.

“(It is) quite a predictable team. The shackles are not off,” Lloyd said.

“I would think the opposition accept the quality.. yeah, good players these. But they ain't taking a risk with bat or ball. So, you'd think of them as ‘yeah, they will have their moments,’ but they wouldn't be really threatening',” he said further.

Ahead of the squad selection for the T20 World Cup, there were significant debates over the places of some star names in the 15-member touring party. While Virat Kohli's strike rate was under the scanner, Hardik Pandya's form with both bat and ball also added to the concerns. One of the biggest shocks in the squad was Rinku Singh's snub; the Kolkata Knight Riders star was among the first names in the T20I playing XI throughout the past 12 months.

The BCCI instead placed its faith in Shivam Dube, who was in brilliant form for the Chennai Super Kings this season.

India begin their campaign on June 5

Team India will kickstart their T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5, and meet arch-rivals Pakistan two days later in New York.

Rohit Sharma will return to captaincy duties after playing under Hardik Pandya's leadership at Mumbai Indians, which didn't go as expected in his first season. MI finishes at the bottom of the league stage with only four wins in their 14 matches.

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