Team India squad for the T20 World Cup 2024 has been announced and the selectors have taken a few tough calls. The likes of Ravi Bishnoi, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill are among the players who have not got the place in the main squad. But the main player missing is Rinku Singh whose absence from the 15-member group is very surprising given that he was the designated finisher for India ever since making his debut in the Ireland series in 2023.
The southpaw majorly batted lower down the order in the 15 T20Is he played since then and scored 356 runs at an average of 89 and a strike rate of 176.23 in 11 innings. In fact, Rinku remained unbeaten on a staggering seven occasions making a strong case for a place in the side for the World Cup. Moreover, in the last T20I played for India against Afghanistan back in January this year, the left-hander had smashed an unbeaten 69 off 39 deliveries.
He had come out to bat with team struggling at 22/4 in 4.3 overs and stitched an unbeaten 190-run stand for the fifth wicket with skipper Rohit Sharma. With the squad announced on X (formerly Twitter) by the BCCI, the selectors are yet to give any reason for leaving him out of the squad but it can be said that his IPL 2024 form might have played a role in him getting axed.
Rinku has so far scored only 123 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 150. He batted at three in Kolkata Knight Riders' previous match against Delhi Capitals but scored 11 runs off as many deliveries before getting out. Nevertheless, the 26-year-old has been named in the travelling reserves alongside Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan and Shubman Gill. Changes can be made in the main squad till May 25 and if he turns around his IPL season in the remaining matches or one of the players gets injured, Rinku can still make it to the 15-member team.
But the fans didn't like the fact that the selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar dropped him from the squad despite performing superbly for India in the shortest format since August 2023 when he made his debut.
Here are some of the reactions:
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, Mohd. Siraj.
Travelling Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan
