Hardik Vice-Captain; Kohli, Jadeja, Chahal, Samson, Dube in; Shubhman Gill, Rinku Singh reserved; KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan completely ignored
Trust the selectors and the team management have given equal credence to overall performance, and not limited their selection criteria to performances in the current edition of the IPL, while naming the 15-member India squad with four reserves on Tuesday (30.04.2024) for the June ICC T20 World Cup being jointly organized for the first time at six locations in the West Indies and three in the USA.
As expected the captaincy remains with ‘hitman’ Rohit Sharma, and, with an eye on the future, Hardik Pandya, retains the vice captain’s role. Virat Kohli has won his place in the squad, and so have wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, wicketkeeper-batsmen Rishab Pant and Sanju Samson, and hard-hitting batsman Shivam Dube.
Among the notable expectants ignored are Rohit’s deputy in many a campaign and wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, and Rinku Singh, though the latter two unlike Rahul and Ishan at least find a place among the reserves.
Yashasvi Jaiswal is the natural choice opening partner with Rohit. Virat takes the No. 3 spot followed by Suryakumar Yadav in the role of link between the top and the middle order, which comprises first choice wicketkeeper-batsman Rishab Pant, medium pace allrounders Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube, and spinning allrounders Ravinder Jadeja and Axar Patel.
Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal are the regular wrist spinners in the squad, and the pace attack led by Jasprit Bumrah, has Mohammad Siraj and Arshdeep Singh in the line-up.
The 15-member squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK-batsman), Sanju Samson (WK-batsman), Hardik Pandya (Vice-captain), 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
Your thoughts! Is It A Winning Combination!
India is the fourth team to name its squad so far for the tournament after New Zealand, England and South Africa. The final day for squad submission for the 9th edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is May 1.
The tournament, featuring 20 teams will be held in the West Indies and USA from June 1 to June 29, 2024. The other teams are Australia, Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Namibia, Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands, Canada, Nepal, Oman, Uganda, United States, and Papua New Guinea.
The venues are
Caribbeans: Trinidad, Antigua, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Barbados & Guyana
USA: New York, Florida & Dallas
The much anticipated India-Pakistan clash is slated for June 9 at the newly inaugurated Nassau International Cricket Stadium in Long Island, New York.
The teams are divided into four groups of five teams each. In all there will be 41 matches. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super 8 stage.
The semi-finals will be staged in Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana, and the final at Barbados on June 29.
The other squads named so far
New Zeland: Kane Williamson (Captain), Finn Allen, Trent Boult, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee. Travelling Reserve: Ben Sears
England: Jos Buttler (Captain), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, Mark Wood
South Africa: Aiden Markram (Captain), Orrniel Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klassen, Keshav Mahraj, Davind Miller, Anrich Nortje, Kingso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tarbraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs
