The selectors of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have chosen India’s 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup, with Rohit Sharma at the helm and Hardik Pandya as his deputy.
While KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, and Ravi Bishnoi failed to secure spots in the squad, the unexpected omission was middle-order batsman Rinku Singh.
Despite his impressive performance as a batters for India over the past few months, the 26-year-old will not be included in Team India's squad and instead has been placed in the reserves.
As per a BCCI source, Rinku couldn't get much time for batting during the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and was mostly used as an impact player which was the main reason behind his omission.
“No doubt, Rinku paid the price for the Impact Player Rule. He is plain and simple unlucky. Hardik might be in poor form but he is still India’s best seam bowling all-rounder and it would have been a risk dropping him considering he is the only one who has bowled,” a BCCI source told PTI.
In the eight innings leading up to his selection, Rinku faced a mere 82 deliveries, averaging just about 10 balls per innings.
The two Iyers — Venkatesh and skipper Shreyas — along with Angkrish Raghuvanshi dominated the majority of the overs, leaving Rinku with very little involvement towards the end.
India Squad for T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), 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
India will start their World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, followed by the match against arch-rivals Pakistan on June 9 at the same venue. India will then take the field against USA and Canada on June 12 and 15 respectively.
Skipper Sharma and Selection Committee Chairman Ajit Agarkar will address a press conference on May 2 at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai.
It is worth mentioning that 20 qualifying teams are divided into four groups of five, from which the top two teams of every group will make their way to the Super 8 round. In that stage, qualifying teams will once again be divided into two groups of four, from which the top two teams will make their way to the semi-final and then the winners will play the final on June 29.
Groups for T20 World Cup 2024
Group A: India, Pakistan, Ireland, Canada, United States
Group B: England, Australia, Namibia, Scotland, Oman
Group C: New Zealand, West Indies, Afghanistan, Uganda, Papua New Guinea
Group D: South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Netherlands, Nepal
- Rinku Singh
