Former England captain Kevin Pietersen has shared his thoughts on the upcoming T20 World Cup in the United States and the Caribbean. The tournament will be played from June 2 to 29, 2024 and India will play all three league matches in New York.
England have won the T20 World Cup title twice. They won the title for the first time in 2010 and KP won the Player of the Series award for scoring 248 runs in the tournament, including 47 off 31 balls in the final against Australia.
India begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland in New York on June 5. They will then play Pakistan (June 9), the United States (June 12) and Canada (June 15). India plays its first three matches in New York and its last league match in Florida.
Pietersen, exclusively with Times of India, spoke about the Indian batsman to watch out for. He named the Indian batsman to make an impact in the tournament and he is none other than Shubman Gill. “It’s Shubman Gill. “He is the boy” Pietersen said when asked about the Indian batsman making an impact.
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Kevin Pietersen backs Shubman Gill for successful T20 World Cup in 2024
Talking about Gill, he is currently struggling in Test cricket. His last four scores in Test cricket are 36, 10, 23 and 0 after the first innings against England. He scored only 74 runs in the series at an average of 18.50. Talking about Gill’s overall record in Test cricket, he scored 1068 runs in 23 Test matches at an average of 29.53.
Pietersen believes that players who perform well in this year’s IPL will have a better chance of success in the T20 World Cup. Gill is all set to lead Gujarat Titans in IPL 2023 after Hardik Pandya returned to Mumbai Indians ahead of IPL 2024. Gill scored 890 runs in IPL 2023 as Gujarat Titans lost the final to CSK who won the title for the fifth time in the IPL.
Shubman Gill could not replicate his ODI form in Test and T20I cricket. He scored 1584 runs in 29 ODIs in 2023 at an average of 63.36. However, his numbers fell drastically in Test and T20I cricket that same year. The youngster scored just 312 runs in 13 T20Is in 2023 at an average of 26.00. Since he bats in the top three in white-ball cricket, the numbers are mediocre. In six Tests in 2023, Gill scored just 258 runs at an average of 28.67.
Gill is likely to be dropped ahead of the second Test, given his performance in the first Test. He fought hard against the England spinners and managed to score 23 in the first innings. In the second innings, when India needed 231 to win, Gill scored a duck.
Pietersen concluded by saying that the conditions for the World T20 in the West Indies are very similar to those in India. He expects the grounds to have little bounce and help spin.
“The conditions are quite similar to what exists here in India. There will be very low bounce windows. It takes a little bit of spin, but they are beautiful wickets too.” Kevin Pietersen concluded by saying.
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