Ex- England Skiper: “Strongest Side in T20 World Cup is India”: Team India is regarded by former England captain Eoin Morgan as the “strongest side” in the T20 World Cup 2024, which begins later this week. On June 5 in New York (United States of America), the Men in Blue, led by Rohit Sharma, will begin their campaign against Ireland.

India is in Group A with hosts USA, Canada, Ireland, and bitter foe Pakistan.

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Speaking on Sky Sports Cricket alongside former England captains Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain, Morgan praised the depth of the Indian team. And predicted that they will be a serious danger to the opposition at the T20I championship.

“The strongest side, even with injuries throughout the tournament, is India, without a doubt. Their strength and depth is absolutely incredible at the moment. And it’s almost probably, we’re talking about who the players that were missed out in their squad of 15 because of the quality that they possess,” Morgan said.

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“They are favorites for me. I think that they’re just the quality that they have on paper. If they produce it, I think they can, they can beat anybody quite well in the tournament,” he added.

Atherton, meantime, brought up the fact that, despite winning the trophy in the tournament’s first year, 2007, India has never triumphed in a T20 World Cup.

He said that although though the Indian squad still only has one global championship to their record. T20 cricket in the nation changed following the team’s victory under MS Dhoni’s captaincy and the creation of the Indian Premier League.

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“They haven’t won it since that first World Cup back in 2007,” Atherton said. “That’s the great irony. That’s how long It’s also an irony because everybody talks about the IPL and how that has improved. India’s T20 cricket. The irony is the only time they’ve won it was pre-IPL.”

On Monday, the first group of Indian athletes arrived in the United States. Members of the squad departed from Mumbai on Saturday evening. After a short layover in Dubai, they arrived in the United States on Monday morning to participate in the showpiece event.

Virat Kohli Defends MS Dhoni’s Style of Finishing Matches, says ‘He Knows What..’: Indian former captain and RCB player Virat Kohli slammed the critics who questioned 2011 World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni’s style of finishing the matches.

When Virat Kohli speaks on Jio Cinema, he talks about how MS Dhoni would always take the game to the 20th over in Twenty20 Internationals or the 50th over in One-Day Internationals.

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He said, “People used to say so many times about Mahi bhai (Dhoni), “Why is he taking the match till the 20th over, 50th over? “How many matches has he finished? He is the only one who knows what he is doing. Nobody else knows. He knows and he is winning matches. For me, that is muscle memory.”

“My mindset was different. I used to always think, “Let’s finish the match in the 19th or 49th over.” But if he is alone out there, he will definitely take the match till the last over and put pressure on the other team, making them think that he will just finish it with a six.” he further added.

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There have been rumors throughout and after the IPL 2024 season about MS Dhoni’s future plans, including whether or not he will ultimately retire or play again the next season.

Since its inception in 2008, Dhoni has participated in the Indian Premier League. (2010), 2011, 2018, 2021, and 2023 were the five IPL titles that he guided the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to win.

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In addition, Dhoni is among the best finishers in cricket history. One of his iconic finishes was recorded against Sri Lanka in the 2011 World Cup Final, where he smashed a six to take Team India to win their second ODI World Cup title.

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