IND vs IRE T20 World Cup 2024: Rohit Sharma talks about importance of Hardik Pandya amid rumours of his divorce

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IND vs IRE T20 World Cup 2024: India captain Hardik Pandya talked about the importance of Hardik Pandya ahead of his team's opening match of the T20 World Cup 2024 against Ireland in New York on Wednesday, June 5.

In the pre-match press conference on Tuesday, Rohit Sharma said that Hardik Pandya and all the other three all-rounders - Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Shivam Dube would be key to India's success at the T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and the West Indies.

Hardik Pandya, who endured a disastrous IPL 2024 as Mumbai Indians captain, has been in news lately because of his divorce rumours with wife Natasa Stankovic. Hardik and Natasa are yet to respond to all the reports which circulated in the media.

The gun all-rounder roared back to form in India's only match, scoring 40 unbeaten runs off just 23 balls. The innings consisted of two fours and four sixes. He also bowled three overs and picked a wicket as India won by 60 runs.

Rohit Sharma reckoned that all-rounders play a crucial role across formats, and increase both the batting as well the bowling depths. He said India would target to increase their batting depth and bowling options.

"If you want to create a good balance in a team, you need a lot of all-rounders. In fast-bowling all-rounders we have Hardik and Dube while Jadeja and Axar give us options in the spin department," Rohit told reporters.

"How to use these four across the tournament. We have thought about it and we will decide how to use them depending on the conditions. How to use these four players, that is our focus.

"We have seen how big a role all-rounders can play in T20 cricket. Not just in T20 cricket, but in all formats. Their role will be more than the rest of the players.

“It is important that we can use these four players well. As I said, I don't know if we can play all four together. If we can, that will be good. If we cannot, even then we have to find our way," he added

"When we played the game with Bangladesh, all three spinners bowled two overs. It wasn't that easy to hit them. And in yesterday's match (SA versus SL), the spinners also took wickets. No one knows the conditions.

"The spinners will take wickets or the seamers will take. So, we possibly... We have to find the best combination and see what will suit our team. How can we keep our batting lineup longer? How can we have more bowling options? "So, keeping these two things in mind, we will think of making a combination," the 37-year-old said.

In the warm-up game against Bangladesh, Shivam Dube also bowled three overs for 13 runs and two wickets. Left-arm spinner Axar Patel bowled two overs for 13 runs and a wicket. Ravindra Jadeja also bowled two overs in the match.