Watch: Shivam Dube, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Mohammed Siraj teach ‘nuts and bolts’ of cricket to US diplomats ahead of T20 World Cup – Times of India

NEW DELHI: With India preparing for the forthcoming T20 World Cup set to take place in the USA and the West Indies, notable Indian cricketers such as Shivam Dube, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and others have been involved in sharing their cricket expertise with US diplomats in Mumbai.

The tournament is scheduled to commence on June 1, with the USA facing Canada in the inaugural match. In the lead-up to the event, prominent Indian players including Mohammed Siraj, Gaikwad, Dube, and Jitesh Sharma, alongside Gaikwad’s wife Utkarsha Pawar, engaged in educating American diplomats on the fundamental aspects of cricket, as highlighted in a social media post by the US Consulate General Mumbai.


SEE ALSO: T20 World Cup Schedule


The instructional session saw Siraj focusing on bowling techniques, while Gaikwad and Dube imparted knowledge on batting skills. A video capturing these moments concluded with the Indian contingent and the US diplomats extending their best wishes to the Indian team for the tournament.

Watch:


“As they head to the United States for the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup, Indian cricketers Mohammed Siraj, Utkarsha Pawar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, and Jitesh Sharma teamed up to teach our American diplomats the nuts and bolts of cricket. Did our diplomats live up to the challenge,” reads the post.

Ahead of the World Cup, the first group of Indian players, including team captain Rohit Sharma, leading pacer Jasprit Bumrah, and the top-ranked T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav, departed for the United States. The departure was documented at the Mumbai airport, capturing the presence of key team members and support staff, including head coach Rahul Dravid and batting coach Vikram Rathour, among others.

India’s campaign in the T20 World Cup will begin on June 5 against Ireland at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. The team is also set to face Pakistan in a highly anticipated match on June 9, followed by encounters with tournament co-hosts USA on June 12 and Canada on June 15, concluding their Group A matches.

The Indian team aims to secure an ICC trophy, a feat unachieved since their ICC Champions Trophy victory in 2013. Despite reaching critical stages in various ICC tournaments since then, including the 50-over World Cup finals in 2023, semifinals in 2015 and 2019, the ICC World Test Championship finals in 2021 and 2023, and the T20 World Cup finals in 2014 and semifinals in 2016 and 2022, India have not clinched a major ICC title.

The team aspires to claim their first T20 World Cup title since their triumph in the inaugural edition in 2007. In the previous T20 World Cup held in Australia in 2022, India was eliminated in the semifinals by England.

(Inputs from ANI)