ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024: Virat Kohli joins Indian team in New York

Indian batting mainstay Virat Kohli joined the Indian squad for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in New York on Friday. Kohli was the last man to join the squad. He was given a break after the Indian Premier League.

The Indian team arrived in the USA – New York to be precise – in batches with players from the teams that did not qualify for the IPL playoffs arriving first, with the exception of Hardik Pandya. The Mumbai Indians captain was given a break after his team’s exit from the IPL and the all-rounder joined the Indian team a bit late.

Kohli’s team – Royal Challengers Bengaluru – were ousted from the IPL in the Eliminator and the star batter took some time off to spend some time with his family before joining the team in New York.

This is not the first time Kohli has been given a break in the recent past. The star batter was out of national duty before the South Africa Test matches last year as he had to travel to the UK to be with his wife. The former Indian captain then missed the entire Test series against England at home to be with his family for the birth of his second child.

Kohli’s arrival is on the eve of India’s warm-up match against Bangladesh and given how warm-ups are played, with the entire squad, Kohli could have a go just to try and get into the groove.

The Indian team will have three practice sessions – on June 2nd, 3rd and 4th – before they take on Ireland in their first match on June 5. It is understood that mostly all three sessions will be compulsory training sessions and the entire squad will take part in them.

The Indian team had an optional training session ahead of their warm-up match against Bangladesh at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on June 1.

Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Mohammed Siraj and other players trained hard and indulged in a lot of interaction with the support staff.

India open their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup sojourn against Ireland on June 5. They will meet Pakistan, a high-voltage clash, on June 9 before meeting hosts USA on June 12, with the three matches being played at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. India will then meet Canada in their last group match on June 12 at Lauderhill, Florida.

The entire Super Eight stage, the semifinals and the final will be played in the West Indies, with India slotted to play the second semifinal, if they get that far.