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The BCCI has announced India's 15-man squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup. While most picks were along expected lines, a few notable absentees, including Rinku Singh, have dominated the headlines.
As clarified earlier, Rohit Sharma will lead the Men in Blue at the ICC event, with Hardik Pandya serving as his deputy. There was plenty of discussion surrounding the places of Rohit and Virat Kohli in the side, but the selectors have thrown their weight behind the senior duo.
India's squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup: 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, Avesh Khan
Other names who have found a place in the squad can consider themselves slightly fortunate to have made the grade despite indifferent form at the international and franchise level.
On that note, here are three players who were lucky to be picked in India's squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup.
#3 Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzvendra Chahal last played a T20I in August 2023, with Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi serving as the team's primary wrist-spinners in the format over the last few assignments.
However, Bishnoi's underutilization at the IPL level, coupled with Chahal's consistency for the Rajasthan Royals, has led the BCCI to go with the more experienced name.
However, Chahal's race as an international leg-spinner has seemed to be run for quite a few years now. His form at the start of IPL 2024 was encouraging, with 10 wickets in his first five matches, but he hasn't been able to sustain it.
The 33-year-old has picked up only three wickets in his last four matches while leaking more than 40 runs thrice.
#2 Arshdeep Singh
India simply don't have many options in the pace department, especially of the left-arm variety. With Mohsin Khan flattering to deceive in the IPL and Khaleel Ahmed not offering enough all-phase value, the Men in Blue will bank on Arshdeep instead at the T20 World Cup.
However, Arshdeep has been in disappointing form for quite a while now. In 2023, he leaked runs at 9.26 while picking up only 26 wickets in 21 T20Is. The 25-year-old's death bowling, in particular, was a major letdown.
Arshdeep's form hasn't shown great signs of improvement in IPL 2024. He has recorded 12 scalps in nine matches at an economy rate of 9.64, with the Punjab Kings struggling at all phases of the innings.
With names like Sandeep Sharma, Avesh Khan, T Natarajan and Harshit Rana in the reckoning, Arshdeep might be a touch fortunate to see himself picked.
#1 Mohammed Siraj
Mohammed Siraj's IPL form has improved marginally over the last few matches, with the swing and seam that usually characterizes his bowling returning. However, he has collected only six wickets at an economy rate of 9.5 and has been taken for runs more often than not.
The names mentioned above were in contention for Siraj's spot, too. The 30-year-old has been trusted by the team management despite an indifferent IPL campaign for the bottom-placed Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who even dropped him from the XI at one point.
