India’s skipper Rohit Sharma shared a team selfie upon their arrival in New York on Sunday morning, accompanied by 10 squad members and the support staff, gearing up for the T20 World Cup 2024.
Star batsman Virat Kohli and vice-captain Hardik Pandya are slated to join the initial batch of arrivals later. The traveling contingent also featured head coach Rahul Dravid along with the rest of the support crew.
Among the players who touched down were Rohit, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and Axar Patel. They were joined by reserve players Shubman Gill and Khaleel Ahmed.
Kohli, who participated in the IPL Eliminator in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, is set to rejoin the squad along with Hardik, who headed to the United Kingdom following the IPL league stage. The five-time champions, in his debut year as captain of MI, missed out on the playoffs. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Avesh Khan (reserve) will depart for New York on Monday due to RR’s participation in Qualifier 2 in Chennai on Friday night. India’s sole World Cup warm-up match will be against Bangladesh at the newly constructed Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. They are scheduled to play three league matches, including a high-voltage clash against Pakistan on June 9.
India is looking to take advantage of the warm-up match to get a feel for the conditions, especially since they play most of their league games at the same venue. The modern stadium with a drop-in pitch was finalized earlier this month, after construction work began in January. India, who have not clinched an ICC title since 2013, are scheduled to play their World Cup opener against Ireland on June 5. The United States is co-hosting an ICC event for the first time, with their national team making their debut in the global championship.
