Shivam Dube and Yuzvendra Chahal have been named in India’s 15-player squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, set to be played in the West Indies and the USA. Meanwhile, Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant are the two wicketkeepers named in the provisional squad announced by BCCI on Tuesday (April 30).
Pant made a comeback to competitive cricket recently following a car accident in late December 2022 which kept him out of the game for a year and a half, and has scored 251 runs in 11 IPL games so far this season at a strike rate of 158.57.
Meanwhile, Rinku Singh, who had established himself as the most reliable and destructive finisher in the country over the last one year, hasn’t found a place in the 15-player squad. He has been named in the travelling reserves alongside Shubman Gill, Avesh Khan and Khaleel Ahmed. The 26-year-old southpaw averages 89 and boasts of a strike-rate of 176.23 in 11 innings since making his T20I debut last August, but has endured a rather underwhelming IPL campaign this year by his standards. In 9 innings for KKR in the ongoing tournament, he has scored only 123 runs at a strike rate of 150.
Squad: 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.
Rinku’s place has been taken up by Shivam Dube, who has impressed with his improved showing against pace in the ongoing IPL. The hard-hitting left-hander may have not had the opportunity to display his skills with the ball, but has hammered 350 runs at a strike rate of 172.41 in nine games so far in the tournament. He has also done well in the limited opportunities he got with the national side over the last one year.
Chahal, who has bagged 96 wickets in 80 T20Is, last featured in a T20I in August 2023 and has been out of reckoning in the national side across formats. However, a splendid run in the ongoing IPL, where he has picked 13 wickets in 9 innings, at an economy rate of 9.00 while batters have largely dominated, has pushed his case.
Similarly, his Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson finds a place back in the national side following a run of consistent scores at a brisk rate in the tournament. Samson has been on the fringes of the national side since making his T20I debut in 2015, featuring in only 25 games, the last of which came in January 2024. With only one half-century and a strike rate of 133.09, he is yet to stamp his authority in international T20s.
The left-arm spin trio of Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav join Chahal to form the four-man spin attack, while the selectors have picked only three frontline pace options – Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh.
The rest of the squad is along expected lines. Hardik Pandya has been named as deputy to Rohit Sharma, with Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav being the other batters in the team.
India will kickstart their campaign against Ireland on June 5 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, which is set to host three of India’s four group stage games. India will then face Pakistan and USA at the same venue on June 9 and 12 respectively before travelling to Lauderhill to face Canada on June 15.
© Cricbuzz
