As India continues to gear up for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies, some of the Indian star players, including Shivam Dube, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and others, gave insights about cricket to US diplomats based in Mumbai.
The marquee event will kick off on June 1, with the co-hosts, the USA, taking on Canada in the opening match. As the World Cup fever runs high, top India stars Mohammed Siraj, Gaikwad, his wife Utkarsha Pawar, Dube and Jitesh Sharma taught the "nuts and bolts" of cricket to the American diplomats.
"As they head to the United States for the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup, Indian cricketers Mohammed Siraj, Utkarsha Pawar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, and Jitesh Sharma teamed up to teach our American diplomats the nuts and bolts of cricket. Did our diplomats live up to the challenge," US Consulate General Mumbai captioned a post on Instagram.
Siraj offered tips on bowling, while Gaikwad and Dube helped the diplomats learn the art of batting. At the end of the video, the Indian players and US diplomats wished India the "best of luck" for the upcoming tournament.
Last Sunday, the first batch of Indian players, including skipper Rohit Sharma, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and number-one-ranked T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav, left for the United States.
At the Mumbai airport, besides skipper Rohit, Bumrah and Suryakumar, head coach Rahul Dravid, batting coach Vikram Rathour, batter Shubman Gill, all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Dube, pacers Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel were also captured.
Team India out to end their ICC Trophy drought:
India will start their T20 World Cup campaign on June 5 against Ireland at the newly constructed Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.
Meanwhile, the most-awaited blockbuster clash between India and Pakistan will take place on June 9. They will later play tournament co-hosts USA (June 12) and Canada (June 15) to wrap up their Group A matches.
In the tournament, India will be aiming to end their ICC trophy drought, having last won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013.
Since then, India has reached the 50-over World Cup final in 2023, the semifinals in 2015 and 2019, the title clash of the ICC World Test Championship in 2021 and 2023, T20 World Cup final in 2014 and the semifinals in 2016 and 2022, but has failed to secure a big ICC trophy.
India will be aiming to win their first T20 WC title ever since they won the inaugural edition of the tournament back in 2007 in South Africa. In the last edition held in Australia in 2022, India lost to England by 10 wickets in the semifinals.
