5 Indian players from Sri Lanka series who may not play T20 World Cup 2024

India won eight of the nine T20 bilateral series that they played in 2022, but failed to finish strong in the T20 World Cup and the Asia Cup. With the next T20 World Cup scheduled to take place in 2024, India has already put forth a new-look team in the ongoing three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka.

Hardik Pandya, who led Gujarat Titans to victory in their debut IPL season, has been handed the captaincy. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are among the senior players who are not part of the squad.

However, there are five players taking a part in this series who may not make the cut for the 2024 T20 World Cup.

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#5 Harshal Patel

Harshal Patel has often been guilty of leaking runs in the death.

Harshal Patel, a death overs specialist, is yet to become a permanent member of the Indian team. And in recent times, he has often been guilty of leaking a lot of runs, especially in the death.

India managed to win the first T20 against Sri Lanka by two runs, but Harshal Patel's economy rate of 10.25 got him an axe in the subsequent fixture.

Jasprit Bumrah is one of the best in the world when it comes to operating in the death overs, and is expected to play that role in the next T20 World Cup as well. He could be assisted by the 23-year-old Arshdeep Singh, who has been growing in leaps and bounds.

These two are not the only ones that 32-year-old Harshal Patel will have to compete against. Shivam Mavi and Umran Malik also handled the pressure well during the end overs in the 1st T20.

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#4 Yuzvendra Chahal

Until a year ago, Yuzvendra Chahal was India's no. 1 spinner in limited-overs cricket. He was part of India's squad for the 2022 T20 World Cup but failed to break into the playing XI. Chahal and Harshal Patel were the only two players in India's 15-member squad who did not play a single match.

Yuzvendra Chahal did not play a single match in the 2022 T20 World Cup.

Chahal faces an uphill task of making his way back as a regular in T20s. Especially since he only has one dimension to his game - bowling. The other spinners in the race - Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar - are all also capable batsmen and fielders, two skills that Chahal lacks.

Chahal hasn't set the field on fire in the first two matches against Sri Lanka, and chances look slim that he will be a part of the Indian squad at the 2024 T20 World Cup.

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#3 Rahul Tripathi

Rahul Tripathi does not have age on his side.

Rahul Tripathi is extremely talented, can handle pressure, and has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket. But he is fighting for an opening slot that already has a long queue - Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and more.

Both in terms of performance and age, Shubman, Ishan, and Ruturaj are a notch above Tripathi. The 31-year-old will have to have a phenomenal year to feature in the next T20 World Cup.

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#2 Mukesh Kumar

The 29-year-old Mukesh Kumar managed to get a Rs 5.5 crore deal at the recently-held IPL auction. But that does not guarantee him a place in Team India. Despite being part of the squad this series, he is yet to win a game. That too, when regulars like Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been rested.

The son of a cab driver, Mukesh has picked up 25 wickets in 23 T20 matches that he's played. Despite his miserly economy of 7.20, other pacers in the race have better figures and more experience in T20 cricket.

So it looks unlikely that he will be in the scheme of things in India's plan for the 2024 T20 World Cup.

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#1 Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson has been ruled out of the remainder of the series due to a knee injury.

Talent, experience, and temperament are the subjects that Sanju Samson scores high in. But he often fails the exam due to this subject called luck. Picked for the Sri Lanka T20Is, it seemed like Sanju Samson would get a chance to stake his claim for the middle-order or even the wicket-keeping slot.

But the talented batter injured his knee while trying to save a boundary in the first match at Wankhede, resulting in him being ruled out for the remainder of the series.

Rishabh Pant is still India's go-to keeper in limited overs, and Ishan Kishan's recent performances have catapulted him into the race. The middle order that Sanju Samson is trying to break into already has the likes of Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Pandya and Shreyas Iyer.

Then there are allrounders like Deepak Hooda, Sundar and Axar also demanding a spot with consistent performances.

So Sanju Samson's name being on India's roster for the 2024 T20 World Cup does not seem probable.

Which other players do you think who may not make the cut for the T20 World Cup in 2024? Shoot in the comments section below.