Putting an end to all the speculations and rumors, the Board of Control for Cricket in India finally announced the squad for the upcoming 2024 ICC T20 World Cup, scheduled to take place in the United States and the West Indies.
Here is the full 15-member squad picked by the Chief of Selectors, Ajit Agarkar in the hopes of breaking India’s duck in ICC events in the last decade.
Full squad: Rohit Sharma ©, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj
Travelling Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, and Avesh Khan
Apart from the regular players, there were some surprise mentions in the 15-member squad like Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson, and Yuzvendra Chahal. After being out of the Indian team for the past few months, Chahal finally earned a call-up while Dube was also rewarded for his stunning performance in the IPL 2024.
The Rajasthan Royals skipper also found a place in the team alongside Rishabh Pant as the two specialist wicketkeeper-batters ahead of a big pack of players in contention like KL Rahul, Jitesh Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Dinesh Karthik.
Meanwhile, there were also a handful of exclusions from the squad, which left the fans and cricket analysts confused, along with raising questions about the selection. In this article, let’s walk through the players who failed to make it to India’s squad for the T20 World 2024 despite excellent performances.
#5 Sandeep Sharma
Sandeep Sharma can be termed as one of the unluckiest cricketers in the current generation. Despite a series of good performances in the Indian Premier League and domestic circuit over the years, the seamer has hardly received any opportunity to represent India at the international level.
The T20 World Cup 2024 is no exception as the right-arm fast-medium pacer was again neglected. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Arshdeep Singh are the only three seamers selected in the team. Sharma has done well in the IPL with 132 wickets to his name in 120 games at an average of over 26 and an economy rate of 7.84.
#4 Jitesh Sharma
Jitesh Sharma could have been used as the finisher for the side as Hardik Pandya’s lack of form is a big concern
The 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League saw the comeback of Rishabh Pant as he recovered from the life-threatening injury and continued smashing the bowlers all over the park.
Samson also showcased his mettle with the bat as he is currently the top run-scorer for his franchise with 385 runs in nine games. With both the wicketkeeper-batters making headlines for their form and eventually being selected for the T20 WC, there was one player who had to bear the consequences.
In the limited chances that Jitesh got to represent India in the past year, he put up a good performance by scoring runs at a strike rate of over 147. He has also done a decent job for Punjab Kings in limited opportunities but failed to find a spot in the World Cup squad.
#3 Ravi Bishnoi
Ravi Bishnoi was being considered as the future of the Indian cricket team till a few months back. He formed a part of the Indian team during their last T20I series against Afghanistan and Bishnoi played all three matches picking two wickets at an average of 56.00.
With the spinner being a part of almost all T20I games and having a decent record of 36 wickets in 24 T20I games at an average of 19.53 and an economy rate of 7.51, he was expected to be there in the T20 WC squad as well.
However, Bishnoi was met with disappointment as the team management picked Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and Axar Patel to form the spin attack.
Ravi’s exclusion might also have something to do with his underwhelming performance in IPL 2024 as the Lucknow Super Giants spinner has picked only five wickets so far in nine matches at an economy rate of over 8.5.
#2 Ruturaj Gaikwad
Since the 2021 edition of the IPL, Ruturaj Gaikwad has established himself as one of the batters to look out for. The opening batter has scored plenty of runs for his team Chennai Super Kings and has ended up as one of their top scorers.
The CSK skipper is in sensational form in IPL 2024 as well with a whopping 447 runs to his name in just nine matches at an average of over 63. With a century to his name, Gaikwad falls behind only Virat Kohli in the IPL 2024 run-scoring charts.
However, the performance wasn’t enough for the batter to earn a place in India’s squad for the T20 World Cup. The 27-year-old could not gain the confidence of the Indian selectors and the management despite his decent record of 500 T20I runs in 17 innings at an average of over 35 and a strike rate of 140.06.
Yashasvi Jaiswal has been picked instead of Gaikwad to open the innings for the Men in Blue in the marquee event alongside Indian skipper Rohit Sharma.
#1 Rinku Singh
Despite a strike rate of over 176 in T20Is, Rinku Singh couldn’t make it to India’s Top 15 for T20
If there was one player who featured in all the probable playing XIs curated by the cricket analysts and fans for India in the T20 World Cup 2024, it was Rinku Singh. The power-hitter was considered the X-factor for the Men in Blue in the shortest format of the game.
Though Rinku has been included in the reserve players, his chances of playing are bleak as the current squad is packed with middle-order players.
Following his exploits in IPL for Kolkata Knight Riders, the 26-year-old made his debut for India and justified his selection by smacking 356 runs in just 11 innings at a stunning average of 89 and a strike rate of 176.24. The middle-order batter looked in good form in IPL 2024 and his overall IPL record stands at 848 runs in 40 matches at an average of over 32 and a strike rate of over 143.
The inclusion of the Uttar Pradesh-born could have given an extra edge to the Indian team in the T20 World Cup. However, the management preferred Shivam Dube over Rinku, considering the former’s ability to contribute with the ball as well but Rinku’s exclusion from the squad came as a big shocker for his fans.