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Team India confirmed their 15-member squad for the 2024 Men's T20 World Cup on Monday, which will begin in June in the USA and the West Indies.
Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli found a place in the 15, with the former leading the line. Young left-handed opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who recently scored a magnificent century in IPL 2024 after a slow start to the tournament, also made it to the team. He could open with Rohit, with Kohli dropping to number three.
The world's top-ranked men's T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav was chosen to lead the middle-order alongside the two in-form wicketkeepers Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant. Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya and Chennai Super Kings' Ravindra Jadeja also made it, despite their indifferent form of late. Pandya was also chosen as the vice-captain.
Axar Patel, too, was included despite getting only limited chances to bat in IPL 2024. He had hoped that only IPL form won't be the criteria for selection because the national team had a "set template" and seems to have been vindicated.
But in a contrasting example of IPL form playing a role for the selectors, Shivam Dube also got a comeback call-up for the biggest stage. Now, although his ability to hit in the middle overs is excellent beyond doubt, whether or not he could provide some bowling cushion to India at the World Cup would be interesting.
Rinku Singh, meanwhile, would feel extremely unlucky to miss out on the first 15, despite being India's best finisher in the format for a while.
Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav were straightforward selections for the bowling line-ups. Yuzvendra Chahal returned to the fold after a bumper season so far with RR. Among pacers, India put their trust, in Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj, banking on their strengths with the new ball and perhaps hoping for improvement in death overs on slightly more helpful pitches.
India's full squad for 2024 T20 World Cup
Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Mohammed Siraj.
Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, and Avesh Khan.
