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After weeks of speculation, KL Rahul finally learned his fate regarding the spot in the Indian squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named a 15-man contingent for the tournament on Tuesday, April 30, and the pair of Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson were selected as wicketkeepers, while Rahul missed out.
Rahul, who is currently leading the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL), had expressed his intention of making it into the World Cup squad. He had come into the cash-rich league after an injury layoff. The wicketkeeper-batter missed the majority of the home Test series against England after another injury to his quadriceps.
He made a reasonably good case for himself, scoring 378 runs in nine innings and showing intent as per the modern approach. However, the selectors and the team management took a different direction.
On that note, let us take a look at three reasons why India not picking KL Rahul for the T20 World Cup 2024 is the right move.
#1 Team India have enough top-order batters and wicketkeepers suited for their modern style of T20 cricket
If there was one department where India were spoilt for great choices among others, it was the wicketkeeping and the top order department. While KL Rahul belongs to both, he was not high enough in the pecking order in either of them to be considered.
Rahul's chances were arguably squandered when Yashasvi Jaiswal cemented his spot at the top of the order. With Rahul not having played in the middle order for ages when it comes to the shortest format, Sanju Samson became the front-runner for the spot.
Even if the top order department is considered, India are well quite well off in terms of options without KL Rahul. The selectors had Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, and Shubman Gill on their radar, and it is the latter that won the race, albeit only as a reserve.
#2 KL Rahul has had his fair share of chances
Team India's last two T20 World Cup campaigns were marred with timid approach and KL Rahul played a huge role in that. The opening batter has been blamed in the past for not making the most of the fielding restrictions, and modern-day T20 cricket devotes a lot of importance to the powerplay overs, even more than before.
The questionable approach was the primary reason behind Rahul being ousted from the T20I side. He had posted reasonable numbers in terms of volume even during the 2022 T20 World Cup, his last set of T20I appearances, but the impact was just not there.
#3 KL Rahul was not in the T20 radar for a long time
After the humiliating semi-final exit at the hands of England in the 2022 T20 World Cup, the BCCI were adamant about honing young talent and aligning with a more aggressive way of batting.
As part of that approach coupled with fixture congestion, a lot of young talent were able to showcase their ability in the shortest format and were able to prove to the selectors that they could play in a modern manner, which renders the likes of KL Rahul obsolete. That is exactly what happened.
With KL Rahul either injured or in rehab or focusing on other formats, he was nowhere even close to the T20 squad, and there is little sense dragging players who were not in the scheme, particularly when there are a plethora of in-form options available, equal in terms of caliber.
In that sense, even Rishabh Pant was also not on the radar, but the manner of his return has left the selectors impressed. While KL Rahul has also shown signs of improvement, it might be just too late, and perhaps not enough.
