Sunil Gavaskar reckons that it would be early to debate about Virat Kohli’s inclusion in India squad for 20-20 World Cup 2024

Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar believes that it would be too early to debate about Virat Kohli’s inclusion in the Indian squad for the 20-20 World Cup in 2024. The star Indian batter had a great season in the ongoing season of IPL for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and ended his campaign by hitting back-to-back centuries in the last two matches.

After India lost the 20-20 World Cup in 2022 under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, the Indian Cricket Board reportedly decided to prepare a young team led by Hardik Pandya before the 2024 World Cup. Senior players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are not being considered by the Board in the shortest format anymore and India are likely to continue in T20Is without them.

There is no point talking about it now: Gavaskar

However, Kohli has been in tremendous form in IPL 2023 as he amassed 639 runs from 14 matches at an average of 53.25 including six fifties and two half-centuries. After that, there have been talks of bringing Kohli back to the T20I squad for the next 20-20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA. Kohli has also been a crucial player for India in the 20-20 World Cup, being the highest run scorer for the past three editions. However, Gavaskar said that it would be premature to talk about Kohli’s inclusion in the T20I squad as there will be another IPL in 2024 before the 20-20 World Cup.

“The next T20 World Cup will be played in 2024. There will be another IPL before that in March-April. His form should be observed at that point. There is no point talking about it now. If we are talking about an upcoming T20 international, say India are playing a match in June, then he definitely fits into the team, the kind of form that he has shown,” Gavaskar told Sports Tak.

“But, speaking about the 2024 World Cup, which will be held in West Indies and America, the form of players needs to be observed in the IPL before that and then we can talk about selection for the World Cup squad,” he further added.