'Rohit Sharma to captain India in this year's T20 World Cup': BCCI secretary Jay Shah

Rohit Sharma (Pic: AFP)

India will be playing the T20 World Cup 2024, to be organised in the Caribbean and the USA, under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, said BCCI secretary Jay Shah at an event on Wednesday.

India have had Hardik Pandya as their full-time skipper in the shortest format but the heartbreaking loss in the final of the 2023 World Cup to Australia have reignited the murmurs of senior batters Virat Kohli and Rohit returning for the T20 showpiece in June.

"In 2023 (final) at Ahmedabad, even though we did not win the World Cup after 10 straight wins, we won hearts. I want to promise you that in T20 World Cup 2024 in Barbados (venue for the final), under Rohit Sharma's captaincy, ham Bharat ka jhanda gaadenge (we will hoist the Indian flag)," Shah said at the end of his speech.

Shah was present at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Khanderi, which was renamed after veteran cricket administrator Niranjan Shah, as the chief guest.

Shah made a speech in front of a gathering of several dignitaries including former India captains Sunil Gavaskar and Anil Kumble and IPL chairman Arun Dhumal.

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The event also featured current chief selector Ajit Agarkar, incumbent head coach Rahul Dravid, Rohit, Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and a few members of the Indian team support staff.

The riveting cricketing rivalry between India and Pakistan will reach planet's biggest show city New York on June 9 when the arch-rivals go against each other there in a Group A match of the World Cup.

The schedule for the showpiece was revealed on Friday, and India are clubbed with Pakistan, Ireland, Canada and co-hosts USA in Group A for the league stage games. India will open their World Cup campaign with a match against Ireland on June 5 in New York.

The tournament will start on June 1 with a match between the USA and Canada. The semi-finals are scheduled for June 26 in Guyana and June 27 in Trinidad while Barbados will host the final on June 29.

The tournament is being co-hosted by the West Indies and the USA with 20 teams, divided into four groups of five sides each, making it the largest ever T20 World Cup. Sixteen teams contested in the last edition in 2022 in Australia.

(With agency inputs)