The 2022 T20 World Cup kicked off on Sunday with Sri Lanka, the new Asia Cup champions, suffering a shock defeat to Namibia while Netherlands escaped with a three-wicket win against the UAE in a low-scoring thriller that followed. The Super 12 stage will kick off on next Sunday with the repeat of the 2021 final - defending champions Australia versus New Zealand. Team India will kick off their campaign a day later against Pakistan.
Before the start of the tournament in Australia, all 16 captains had a mega press conference in Melbourne. All the captains had assembled in a room for the presser and before the start of the media interaction, India captain Rohit Sharma was asked about the arrangements in that room by the organisers.
Rohit replied saying, “Yaa it's pretty cool actually, just a Game of Thrones kind of feel.”
ICC later shared that clip with an epic twist. They shared it on Instagram with the caption, "W̶i̶n̶t̶e̶r̶ #T20WorldCup is coming #cricket #cricketreels #got."
"We play a big part in that. All of us are ambassadors in their own way. It's important for us to lead by example, especially the kids. We want our next generation to play the sport. We all encourage them to come forward and take up the sport. That's what we want. We want to make it as global as we can," Rohit said on the significance of the T20 World Cup, in which he has appeared in all seven editions and is among the four players at this edition of the World Cup who has played at the inaugural edition as well 15 years back.
{{/usCountry}}"We play a big part in that. All of us are ambassadors in their own way. It's important for us to lead by example, especially the kids. We want our next generation to play the sport. We all encourage them to come forward and take up the sport. That's what we want. We want to make it as global as we can," Rohit said on the significance of the T20 World Cup, in which he has appeared in all seven editions and is among the four players at this edition of the World Cup who has played at the inaugural edition as well 15 years back.
{{/usCountry}}India will open their account against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 23 at the MCG in Melbourne. The Men in Blue had lost by 10 wickets in their previous T20 World Cup meeting, exactly 12 months back. Since then, they have faced two more times, at the Asia Cup last month. Both sides won one each.
“I don’t believe in last-minute decisions. We want to keep our boys informed about team selection before so that they can prepare early. I already have my XI for the Pakistan match. Already, those players are informed. I don’t believe in last-minute thing. I want them to prepare well,” he said.