The much-awaited Indian squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup was announced by the BCCI on Tuesday as the board secretary Jay Shah, chief selector Ajit Agarkar and head coach Rahul Dravid met at a hotel in Ahmedabad to finalize the 15 names. However, the ICC permits all teams time until May 25 to make any changes.
Rohit Sharma, as announced earlier by Shah, will lead the squad with
Hardik Pandya
as his deputy.
While the move to appoint the off-colour Hardik as vice-captain has surprised many, the BCCI chose to continue putting its trust in Hardik, who has captained India in T20Is in the past.
Hardik has struggled on the field ever since making his comeback following an ankle injury he suffered during the ODI World Cup. After his move from Gujarat Titans to Mumbai Indians as skipper replacing Rohit Sharma sparked a debate that's still hot, he has failed to inspire MI's campaign as his all-round skills have deserted him on most occasions.
Moreover, his captaincy has been nothing special, which also reflects in MI's seven defeats in 10 matches this IPL and has left the five-time champions languishing at No. 9 currently on the 10-team points table.
It's hardly surprising then to know that Hardik's name was debated upon before being including in the 15-man
T20 World Cup squad
.
"There was a lot of debate over Hardik's place in the squad while (Sanju) Samson was not debated much," a BCCI source told PTI, sharing inside details about the selection meeting on the condition of anonymity.
KL Rahul
, who doubles up as a top-order batsman and wicketkeeper, was overlooked and the in-form Rajasthan Royals' captain Samson was preferred as he performs a similar role.
Another name that was almost considered a certainty but was left among the four reserves is the finisher
Rinku Singh
. Batsman Shubman Gill and fast bowlers Avesh Khan and Khaleel Ahmad are the other three named as reserve players.
"Rinku was just unlucky," the BCCI source further told PTI.
With Hardik in the squad and expected to play the role of a finisher, the selectors were left with a choice between Shivam Dube and Rinku, and they went ahead with the former, possibly also based on current form in the IPL.
"It was a toss-up between Dube and Rinku with Hardik also in the squad," said the source.
The T20 World Cup will be co-hosted by USA and West Indies from June 2 to 29.
India, clubbed in Group A with Pakistan, will begin campaign on June 5 against Ireland in New York, before the big game against Pakistan on June 9 at the same venue.
Indian Squad for T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (Vice Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK),
Sanju Samson
(wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav,
Yuzvendra Chahal
, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj. Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.
(With PTI inputs)
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