T20 World Cup 2024: Not Bumrah or Suryakumar Yadav - Ravi Shastri Picks These 2 Players as Key For India

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Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has picked two players as key for Team India at the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024, and it does not include senior stars Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma or Suryakumar Yadav.

Although the senior players will be vital to Team India's quest for the second T20 World Cup title, the former coach has picked out two relatively new faces in the squad as the players who may be key to the team's challenge to win the first title since 2007.

Shastri has picked out two players set to debut at senior ICC events for India - Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube - as key to the team's hopes in the Caribbean and USA for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 in June.

Jaiswal and Dube were named in India's 15-member squad for the tournament beginning next month. The duo have been in good touch over the last few months.

While Jaiswal was in top form in the Test series against England with a record tally of runs and carried that form with a century in IPL 2024, Dube has smashed 26 sixes in 11 matches in the ongoing Indian Premier League and is in top form with the bat.

"The two gentlemen you've got to watch out for, and both are left-handers, both playing their first World Cup. One is [Yashasvi] Jaiswal. We know a lot about him, he did extremely well against England, explosive at the top of the order, left-hander, he's young, he's fearless and he'll play shots," Shastri told ICC.

"But there's someone in the middle order, please watch out for [him], because he is explosive, he's devastating and he's a match-winner. He hits sixes for fun, and when it comes to spin bowling, he can kill you."

The Mumbai all-rounder, who plays for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL, has been on top of the six-hitting charts since IPL 2022, smashing over 70 sixes in the period.

Citing his six-hitting ability, Shastri warned the opposition bowlers be it spin or fast are going to travel all around the park when Dube takes stike at the T20 World Cup.

"He'll park a few balls out of Long Island into the small island, he's that kind of a player. He hits it big, he hits it long, and like I said, against spin, he could kill you. Even against the fast bowlers, he's worked out his game, he's understood the way to play," Shastri added.

"And I think he holds the key at that number five, number six position because if you're on the doldrums, you want someone to change it in 20-25 balls, he's the player to go to."

Dube has struck at a rate of 170.73 in IPL 2024 while also averaging over 40 for his 350 runs in 11 games this year. The left-hander was singled out for huge praise by Shastri, who thinks Dube's big-hitting could unlock big totals for India in the competition.

"His strike rate, which will be close to 200 most of the time, will help India immensely in going forward, getting those 190s, 200s that are needed in big competitions, especially like the [T20] World Cup. So enjoy it, watch out for this left-hander - he's big, he's strapping, and he hits a long ball," Shastri concluded.