Need to finalize 20 players as quickly as possible for T20 WC 2022: Rahul Dravid

India head coach Rahul Dravid felt the need to finalise a set of 20 players soon for the most-awaited T20 World Cup 2022 this year in Australia. The Men in Blue under Virat Kohli were knocked out in the group stages of the T20 World Cup 2021 unexpectedly and this time it will be a new captain Rohit Sharma and coach Dravid for the tournament. So far, the combination has been a grand success until the recent South Africa series, where India went under the scanner.

Although the regulars Rohit, Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah were rested, a young India team suffered back-to-back heavy defeats in the first two games of the five-match series under Rishabh Pant’s captaincy. They showed a lot of character in the next two games by playing the same side and went on to level the series. However, the final game was washed out and the series ended 2-2.

The series also proved as an eye-opener to Dravid, who has been watching the performances, and stiff competition is expected once the big names are back in the squad. Hardik Pandya will be leading the Indian side for the next T20I series in Ireland.

You want to take only 15 to the World Cup: Rahul Dravid

Dravid mentioned the importance of finalizing the squad ahead of the T20 World Cup with the uncertainties happening in the current world. He reckoned that 18 to 20 players have to be identified for the tournament which will be reduced to 15 for the mega-event. He added that the injuries might crop up in the meantime but was quite sure about finalizing the squad quickly.

“As you come closer and closer to the event, you want to firm up your final squad or if not, you want to have some contingencies in the kind of world we live in today. Obviously, you want to take only 15 to the World Cup but (need to identify) top 18 to 20 players,” Dravid’s response to a query on India’s core as quoted by India Today.

“Obviously, there could be odd changes due to injury and things that are beyond your control but we are going to start looking to firm up that squad as quickly as possible. Whether that will happen in the next series (Ireland) or series after that (England) is hard to tell but we are certainly looking to do that as quickly as possible,” he added.