 "T20 World Cup 2024, India Squad: Rinku Singh brutally axed as selectors opt for experience and IPL form")
India’s squad for the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup was announced on Tuesday and credit must be given to BCCI and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar for pulling a few surprises with notable inclusions and omissions . In an era where reporting on Team India has become mundane with everything major getting leaked to the media before becoming official, Agarkar, BCCI general secretary Jay Shah and coach Rahul Dravid, who met at ITC Narmada in Ahmedabad and were joined by captain Rohit virtually, kept majority of us guessing till the last minute and even proved a few reports incorrect with a 15-member squad which is sure to amaze and excite the fans as well as disappoint a few.
It’s going to be a long read when you try to examine the inclusion of 15 players and some startling exclusions but to give you a gist, Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube, all those players whose place in the final 15 was not a guarantee has been included alongside Yuzvendra Chahal who returns to the squad for the first time since August 2023. Virat Kohli’s spot was never in danger even though sometimes it felt like the selectors were ready for the big call.
At the same time, Shubman Gill and Rinku Singh have been relegated to the reserves list and KL Rahul has been ignored altogether.
That’s as far as the summary of big inclusions and exclusions is concerned but the most consistent trend to emerge from the selection decision is the influence of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL). The majority of the players who were seen as a case of fifty-fifty have sealed their place on the back of a solid IPL.
IPL stars dominate India squad
Talking specifically, no one has benefitted more than Pant from the T20 league, however, one would say it’s more of a case of the wicketkeeper-batter showing his tenacity rather than IPL helping him make the jump. The truth is that once the Delhi Capitals skipper made 398 runs in 11 matches at a strike rate of 158.56 – a few months after he was still using crutches to walk – it became impossible for the selectors to ignore him. Pant is an impact player and while he is still to have an impact in T20I cricket, his miraculous comeback after the near-fatal car accident has bolstered selectors’ faith in the cricketer.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsSimilarly, Samson (385 runs in nine matches at a strike rate of 161.08), Shivam Dube (350 runs in nine matches at a strike rate of 172.41) and Chahal (13 wickets in nine matches at an economy of nine) have also benefitted from performing consistently in IPL 2024.
KL Rahul is one player who failed to make it to the squad despite scoring a handsome 378 runs in nine matches but there’s a good chance his strike rate of 144.27 went against him. Rahul has not played for India in T20Is since the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final exit and the Men in Blue need to reinvent their batting style and shed the conservative approach could be a major reason he was ignored.
In that aspect, it’s a welcome decision that selectors have stuck with Jaiswal as the second opener in the squad besides Rohit. It’s a call where the selectors went away from the IPL trend and picked the opener despite the Rajasthan Royals batter scoring just 249 runs in nine games at a strike rate of 154.65. At the international level, however, Jaiswal boasts a strike rate of 161.93, having already scored a century in just 17 T20Is.
Dube, who can also bowl medium pace but hasn’t been used at all in IPL 2024, has mostly been added due to the same logic – to give more firepower to the Indian batting lineup. Such reinforcement becomes even more necessary with the inclusion of Rohit and Kohli in the squad. None of them are known for slam-bang cricket and the selectors have tried to compensate for it by including big hitters who can bat around them and that list also includes Suryakumar Yadav who was always a certainty.
Hardik was always going to be there
There are three all-rounders in the squad including Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. After the squad announcement, a PTI report on the decision quoted a BCCI source saying that “there was a lot of debate over Hardik’s place in the squad,” but in all honesty, India don’t have a replacement for him. You need seam-bowling all-rounders in T20 cricket and Pandya was the only option for India.
Dube for all his talent is not bowling for Chennai Super Kings and it’s a task to even recall the names of the other contenders. The inclusion of both Jadeja and Axar, however, is something that can be debated. Firstly, the duo hasn’t been in the best of forms and secondly, one of them could have been used to include Rinku in the squad.
You need at least six bowling options in T20 cricket which means in all probability Pandya and one of Jadeja and Axar would be part of all India playing XIs. In such a case, a replacement is also necessary but selecting two specialist spinners – Kuldeep Yadav and Chahal – left the selectors with no choice.
What about Rinku?
The only way they could have included Rinku was in place of a spin-bowling all-rounder or a spinner.
There will be multiple suggestions as to why the selectors have taken the right call but it’s almost impossible to justify Rinku’s non-selection. India are going to the World Cup without a specialist finisher who can do the job at No.6 or lower spot.
Rinku hasn’t had a great run in IPL 2024, with only 123 runs in nine matches at a strike rate of 150, but surely the India performance counts for a lot more. In just 11 innings since making his T20I debut last August, the Kolkata Knight Riders batter has scored 356 runs at an average of 89 and a strike rate of 176.23.
Rinku Singh in T20is for India:
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) April 30, 2024
38 (21), 37* (15), 22* (14), 31* (9), 46 (29), 6 (8), 68* (39), 14 (10), 16* (9), 9* (9), 69* (39).
- The heroics of this gunman have been forgotten. 🥲💔 pic.twitter.com/28S8BKWSvL
It’s genuinely felt that this is an area where India needed to be bold. After all, closing games has been a problem for India and Rinku has performed consistently in the high-pressure role of a finisher in international cricket.
India expecting spinning tracks in the USA?
The inclusion of two specialist spinners and four tweakers overall including the all-rounders, however, also suggests that BCCI is expecting spin-friendly conditions in the USA besides West Indies where the tracks have slowed down over the years.
Most of India’s group games will be played in New York which will host the matches in a temporary stadium and there’s always a chance of having under-prepared pitches which also could have been the line of thinking behind picking two specialist spinners.
Talking about the pacers, India have picked three familiar faces without trying to experiment. While there can never be a question over Jasrit Bumrah’s inclusion, the same cannot be said about Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh.
Siraj has lacked form in IPL 2024 and while Arshdeep has been decent, you once again feel that selectors could have picked Avesh Khan and T Natarajan, especially considering how these bowlers can be impactful in the death overs. But the pace department is an area where selectors have gone for experience rather than relying on the form of players in IPL 2024.
India squad for T20 World Cup 2024: 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, Mohammed Siraj.
Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.
India’s T20 World Cup 2024 group stage schedule:
5 June: India vs Ireland at New York (8 PM)
9 June: India vs Pakistan at New York (8 PM)
12 June: India vs USA at New York (8 PM)
15 June: India vs Canada at Lauderhill (8 PM)
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