NEW DELHI: Chairman of the national selection committee
Ajit Agarkar
and skipper
Rohit Sharma
are set to hold an informal meeting in the national capital to discuss a potential 15-member squad for the
T20 World Cup
in the Americas.
The official announcement is likely to take place in Mumbai on May 1, which is the cut-off date for the ICC event.
It is understood that Agarkar specifically flew to Delhi for Saturday's IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals, as this provided him an opportunity to have a discussion with Rohit and gain further clarity before meeting with his colleagues to finalize the team selection.
There are a couple of slots which will be up for discussion as most of the team picks itself. There won't be many surprises and the only thing that the selection committee and team management needs to be convinced about is
Hardik Pandya
's bowling fitness.
If Hardik is slotted in the 15, then only one among Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh can be accommodated while it seems that KL Rahul, one of the favourites of the current coaching dispensation headed by Rahul Dravid, has left his nearest competitor Sanju Samson far behind.
There is very little possibility of a left-field selection and one option could be Mumbai Indians batter Tilak Varma, who is a flamboyant southpaw and can also bowl handy off-spin in case opposition has more left-handers.
However, it can't be ascertained how much is the possibility of that happening as Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi are fighting for the third spinner's slot.
Yuzvendra Chahal, the country's most skillful white ball wrist spinner, is reportedly not a priority choice for an influential member of the coaching staff, who has a lot of say in selection matters.
(With PTI inputs)
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