Pant, Samson in India’s T20 World Cup squad; Rinku named in reserves

India have announced the squad for the T20 World Cup 2024 under Rohit Sharma's leadership, with Hardik Pandya named his deputy. The Indian national selectors have named Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson as wicketkeepers, whereas Shubman Gill and Rinku Singh have been named in the reserves.

Even though Yashasvi Jaiswal and Hardik Pandya have blown hot and cold in the ongoing Indian Premier League, the selectors have decided not to alter too much with the combination. That would mean India are poised to open with Rohit Sharma and Jaiswal - the same combination they fielded against Afghanistan in the home series in January.

Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav are slated to take the No.3 and No.4 roles, respectively, even though the former has played just a couple of T20Is for India since the T20 World Cup semi-final exit in 2022. However, since then, he has been in terrific form in the last two IPLs, having accumulated 1139 runs at an average of 59.95 at a strike rate of 143.1. 

The IPL performance didn’t seem to matter much for the selectors as they have decided to include Mohammed Siraj to partner with Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh. In the spin-bowling department, the Kul-Cha pair is back to support spin-bowling all-rounders Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja.

The return of Yuzvendra Chahal, who hasn’t played any T20I for India since the West Indies series in 2023, is significant. In a tournament dominated by batters, Chahal has held his own in IPL 2024, having taken 13 wickets at an average of 23.53. His impeccable control has helped Rajasthan Royals to the top of the table.

Shivam Dube is named as a back-up pace-bowling all-rounder to Pandya, but his bowling form is in doubt, given Chennai Super Kings have largely used him as a middle-order batter.

The biggest surprise has to be the exclusion of Rinku Singh, who has been one of India's premier finishers in the last one year. Since making his debut in Ireland last year, Rinku has managed to amass scores at an average of 89.00 and a strike rate of 176.23. He has been added in the reserves alongside Gill, Avesh Khan, and Khaleel Ahmed. 

Squad - Rohit Sharma ( c ), 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, Mohammed Siraj 

Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan

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