“We need to identify top 18 to 20 players”: Rahul Dravid reveals urgency to identify ICC T20 World Cup squad as soon as possible

Indian coach Rahul Dravid wants to finalize the squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia as soon as possible.

ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in UAE was a huge disappointment for India, where they failed to qualify for the knockout stages. The defeat to Pakistan and New Zealand dented their campaign at the beginning only.

The setup is changed now, Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid have replaced Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri as captain and head coach of the squad, respectively. This is will be Rohit’s first major ICC tournament as captain. The squad selection of the last World Cup was heavily criticized, and Rahul Dravid wants to correct it this time around.

Rahul Dravid wants to identify ICC T20 World Cup squad quickly

Indian coach Rahul Dravid has stated the urgency to select their T20 World Cup squad as soon as possible. Dravid said that the team is looking to finalize their top 18 to 20 players ahead of the tournament so that they can select a particular pool of the same.

Rahul Dravid added that the pool will then be finalized into a 15-men squad for the World Cup. Dravid said that he is not sure whether it will be decided after Ireland’s or England’s series, but he wants to do it as quickly as possible. He also insisted that players’ injuries can certainly result in some odd changes.

For all the Rishabh Pant critics, gist of head coach Rahul Dravid’s post-match presser
“Pant is an integral part of this batting line-up and features big in our plans going into the next few months.” #CricketTwitter

— Kushan Sarkar (@kushansarkar) June 19, 2022

“As you come closer and closer to the event, you want to firm up your final squad or if not, you want to have some contingencies in the kind of world we live in today. Obviously, you want to take only 15 to the World Cup but (need to identify) top 18 to 20 players,” Rahul Dravid was quoted as per India today.

“Obviously, there could be odd changes due to injury and things that are beyond your control but we are going to start looking to firm up that squad as quickly as possible.”

“Whether that will happen in the next series (Ireland) or series after that (England) is hard to tell but we are certainly looking to do that as quickly as possible.”