India T20 World Cup squad announcement Highlights: Pant, Samson, Dube included, Rinku, Gill in reserves

Ajit Agarkar and India coach Rahul Dravid have left the Ahmedabad hotel where they had convened to finalise the T20 World Cup squad. BCCI secretary Jay Shah had left earlier

Batters: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav

Wicket-keepers: Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson

All-rounders: Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel

Spinners: Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal

Seamers: Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

Irfan Pathan finds it difficult that Rinku Singh and Ravi Bishnoi have not been named in the T20 World Cup squad

India’s T20 World Cup group stage fixtures:

vs Ireland on 5 June

vs Pakistan on 9 June

vs USA on 12 June

vs Canada on 15 June

1. Hardik Pandya is the vice-captain and will serve as Rohit Sharma’s deptuy

2. Virat Kohli finds a place despite many calling for his axe due to low scoring rate

3. Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant both included as wicketkeepers. No KL Rahul

4. Yuzvendra Chahal returns to the T20 setup. He will partner Kuldeep Yadav in the spin department

5. Shivam Dube has been rewarded for a scintillaitng IPL show so far and has earned a maiden World Cup call

6. The surprise, though, is absence of Rinku Singh who has been named in the travelling reserves – alongside Shubman Gill, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan

7. Looks like IPL alone wasn’t the criteria for the selectors, coach and captain as Mayank Yadav doesn’t get a call-up

BCCI statement on the squad: The Senior Selection Committee on Tuesday picked India’s 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, which will be hosted in the West Indies and USA.

India will begin their World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 05, 2024 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, followed by the marquee clash against Pakistan on June 09, 2024 at the same venue. India will then play USA and Canada on June 12 and 15 respectively.

India squad for T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya (vice captain), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jaspreet Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

Travelling reserves: Shubman Gill, Khaleel Ahmed, Rinku Singh, Avesh Khan

It appears the meeting between the selectors, coach, captain and the BCCI secretary Jay Shah has ended. Shah left the Narmada Hotel short while back.

Former India cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu has lauded Rinku Singh and Axar Patel from the ongoing IPL and called for their inclusion in the Team India squad. Sidhu has put them in illustrious company!

As per Network18’s Sahil Malhotra, India’s squad for the T20 World Cup is ‘very likely’ to be announced today. No clarity on the timing though.

Defending champions England have named their T20 World Cup squad. Captained by Jos Buttler, it sees the return of Jofra Archer after a lengthy injury absence.

England’s squad: Jos Buttler (c), 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

Chief selector Ajit Agarkar and BCCI secretary Jay Shah have arrived at the Narmada Hotel in Ahmedabad to put the final touches to the T20 World Cup squad.

As wait continues for India’s lineup, South Africa have named their squad for the T20 World Cup.

South Africa squad: Aiden Markram (c), Ottniel Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs.

Travelling reserves: Nandre Burger and Lungi Ngidi

For Matthew Hayden, the challenge is in experience vs youngsters especially with the Virat Kohli inclusion in the T20 World Cup squad.

“This Virat Kohli discussion is probably the primary discussion here. Is he the individual who is going to win you the World Cup? I mean, his last ODI World Cup was a fantastic campaign. He has got nothing wrong with his statistics, historically no matter what tournament he plays. So the challenge from mine is his experience vs the young impetus that is required to play great World Cup cricket,” said the Aussie batter.

ICC had named Olmpic gold medallist and athletics legend Usain Bolt as the ambassador of the upcoming T20 World Cup to be played in the West Indies and USA from 1 to 29 June. He was at Manchester United’s Old Trafford Stadium alongside Sam Billings and Carlos Brathwaite

As per PTI, there are two big points of discussion when selectors meet BCCI secretary Jay Shah.

1. Second wicketkeeper’s spot

2. Hardik Pandya’s place

Rishabh Pant appears to be the top choice wicketkeeper for India. Who will be the second choice? A look at the contenders and their IPL form.

Sanju Samson: 385 runs in 9 matches at 161.08 SR with four fifties

KL Rahul: 363 runs in 8 matches at 143.47 SR with three fifties

Ishan Kishan: 212 runs in 9 matches at 165.62 SR with one fifty

Dinesh Karthik: 172 runs in 6 matches at 209.75 SR with two fifties

Jitesh Sharma: 128 runs in 9 matches at 125.49 SR

That’s it from us in our coverage of India’s T20 World Cup squad announcement for today, with confirmation coming in of the BCCI set to unveil the 15 on Tuesday, 30 April.

Our updates will resume tomorrow morning, as we continue to build towards what will be the biggest announcement in Indian cricket in recent months. Do join us tomorrow morning, or noon in case you’re a late riser! For now, we bid you all good night!

Here’s the squad that former India opener Wasim Jaffer had picked for the T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.

Jaffer’s gone with Jaiswal as Rohit’s opening partner with Virat Kohli also included. Additionally, he’s picked Hardik Pandya as well as Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh for the middle-order. Some of the big names omitted from his squad are opener Shubman Gill and keeper-batter KL Rahul.