At the toss, captain Kohli said that KL Rahul will open for India in this World Cup, and the right-hander displayed his class at the top with scintillating 24-ball 54 and provided India fiery start
India will play its second and last practice match against Australia on October 20 at ICC Cricket Academy ground and the match will start at (3:30 pm IST)
Former India cricketer Suresh Raina says Virat Kohli deserves to draw the curtains on his T20 captaincy stint by winning the shortest format's World Cup in the UAE and Oman. Kohli will step down from T20 captaincy after the World Cup and Raina said the talismanic batter deserves a befitting farewell from his teammates. "For India, the message at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup is simple -- do it for Virat Kohli. "It will probably be his last time at this tournament as captain, so it's very important for him to make everyone believe we can do it and for us to get behind him," Raina wrote in a column for ICC. "India fans can't wait for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 to start for this reason. We have the players, we have the momentum - we just need to go out there and execute now." Raina feels the Indian players featuring in the IPL in the UAE could help them during the World Cup. "All of our players have just played the Indian Premier League in the UAE and they have played themselves
The 34-year-old Rohit is Kohli's deputy in the white-ball formats and is most likely to take up the leadership role when India clashes with New Zealand in a home series in November
Kohli remains the leading-run scorer in T20s with 3159 runs at an impressive average of 52.65 and highest score of 94 not out
Former Australia Test opener Matthew Hayden and ex-South Africa pacer Vernon Philander has been appointed as coaches of the Pakistan team for ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in the UAE
India enjoys a 5-0 superiority against Pakistan across all editions of the T20 World Cup.
Australia cricket team will tour Bangladesh in August for first-ever T20I bilateral series between the two nations, playing five matches instead of three as agreed upon previously
Australian pacer Pat Cummins believes if hosting the ICC T20 World Cup amidst raging Covid-19 pandemic is a 'drain on Indian resources' or is 'unsafe', it would be prudent to shift it to the UAE
Newcomers Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav have capitalised on the opportunities to deserve a place in India's T20 World Cup squad later this year, said former India batsman VVS Laxman.
The security delegation will meet with officials of the Board of Control for Cricket in India
The BCCI secretary said that World T20 game must take place as the state & country's image is at stake.