The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a 15-man squad for the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and United States. Rohit Sharma will continue to lead the side and even though most of the team is on the expected lines, Rinku Singh's omission was the biggest talking point despite him averaging 89 at a strike rate of 175 playing for India in the shortest format. Rinku has been included in the reserves, however, Yuzvendra Chahal's inclusion in the main squad meant that the 26-year-old wasn't in the 15.
However, there are a few more changes in the squad from the one that was picked for the tournament two years ago in Australia. While most of the squad does resemble the previous one, there have been a few key changes including the return of Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant to the side. Take a look at the full list of changes-
IN:
Sanju Samson was probably the most popular inclusion and rightly so as he has done everything in IPL 2024 what was asked of him, consistency, playing long and still at a good tempo. Shivam Dube, the middle-order marauder too was added to the squad given the fear he has instilled with his presence amongst the opposition bowlers. Yashasvi Jaiswal, the left-handed opener, who has been in scintillating for India in T20Is and Test matches too earned his first-ever T20 World Cup call-up.
Jasprit Bumrah is fit and raring to go and he too comes back. Ravindra Jadeja, who got injured during Asia Cup 2022 has also returned to the T20 setup while Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj are other inclusions. Eight players have kept their spots.
OUT:
Among the omissions, KL Rahul is the biggest. However, it was on the cards with his strike rate being an issue and his disappointing outings in the last T20 World Cup didn't help. Dinesh Karthik was a surprise pick the last time but he hasn't been looked at again. Mohammed Shami is recovering from his heel surgery and is expected to be out till August. Deepak Hooda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel were not in the scheme of the things in the T20 setup for more than a year and hence they were not looked at as well.
R Ashwin may have been part of the World Cups in the last three years but with everyone fit, he was unlikely to get a place.
India's T20 World Cup 2024 squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh
Travelling Reserves: Rinku Singh, Shubman Gill, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan
