The Indian squad for the upcoming T-20 World Cup has been announced. There is also a four-man reserve squad that has been announced by the BCCI for the tournament. While there are many surprise selections, there are also some big omissions in the squad. Led by Rohit Sharma, the Indian team will be the favourites to win the T-20 World Cup due to their stellar depth.
Rohit Sharma is one of the best limited-overs batsman in the world and with him in the team, India will certainly have a lot of security at the top of the batting order. Despite there being doubts about his selection, Hardik Pandya has been named as the Vice-Captain of the Indian Cricket team. He has not had a great IPL season so far, but the Mumbai Indian captain is more than capable of turning things around.
Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishab Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj are the others who were named in the 15-man squad. Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan will be part of the reserve Indian squad.
Was KL Rahul the biggest snub in the 15-man squad for the T-20 World Cup?
KL Rahul has been a regular in the Indian cricket team for the past few years now. Although he started at the top of the order in the national team, Rahul has been used as a versatile option in the recent past. However, going into the T-20 World Cup, there was a lot of talent and with there no definitive role for the wicket-keeper, it only made sense to drop him from the squad.
Shubman Gill has won a lot of praise for his batting since making his India debut in the T-20 format in 2023. He hit 126 runs in 63 deliveries during India’s win in the T-20 series against New Zealand. His performance there was the highest individual score by an Indian batsman in the format. The 24-year-old had a phenomenal IPL campaign in 2023. He made 890 runs in the tournament, which is only second behind Virat Kohli’s record in a single season. Despite all these stats, Gill was not able to find a spot in the 15-man squad.
Indian squad also has a few surprise additions
The surprise additions of Rishab Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube and Yuzvendra Chahal will certainly be a major point of discussion among Indian fans. Pant who made a miraculous recovery from a serious accident in 2022, has been brilliant for the Delhi Capitals so far. He has been hitting the ball well and his work from behind the stumps has also been commendable for someone who has been out of the game for a long time.
Sanju Samson on the other hand, has been in and out of the Indian team for years now. However, his brilliance with the bat was not going to go unnoticed for too long. The Kerala-born player will be looking to put some big performances in the World Cup and cement his place in the Indian team.
Shivam Dube has been a man on a mission this IPL season. He has been hitting the ball for fun and is one of the main players in Chennai’s batting order. Although he has not bowled in the IPL, Dube could be used as an option in the T-20 World Cup.
Yuzvinder Chahal’s journey in T-20’s has been nothing short of a roller coaster. He bagged the Purple Cap in the 2022 season and finished with 21 wickets in the following season. Despite his phenomenal record, Chahal had never previously been selected into a World Cup squad. He will be keen to prove his ability to the selectors and once again become a regular in the international team.
