Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, and Sanju Samson have been named in India's 15-man squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup, which begins on 1 June in the USA and the West Indies. The squad, announced on Tuesday afternoon, will be captained by Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya as vice-captain.
Yuzvendra Chahal, who was left out of India's recent T20I squads for the series in South Africa and the home series against Afghanistan in January, has been selected on the back of his IPL form and is one of four spin options along with left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav and left-arm spin-bowling all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel.
The pace attack consists of just three specialists - Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Arshdeep Singh - with Hardik and Dube as seam-bowling options.
Yashasvi Jaiswal has been preferred as Rohit's opening partner, while Shubman Gill has been named as a reserve along with lower-order batsman Rinku Singh and fast bowlers Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.
Pant hasn't played a T20I since his car accident in December 2022 and has worked his way back into the squad through his performances in the 2024 IPL. His 398 runs in 11 innings have come at a strike rate of 158.56. Over the course of the season, he has also put to rest any doubts about his wicketkeeping.
This is Samson's first World Cup selection, having lost out to Dinesh Karthik in 2022. Like Pant, Samson has been in prolific form as captain of Rajasthan Royals, who top the IPL 2024 table with eight wins from nine matches. He has so far scored 385 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 161.08. The inclusion of Pant and Samson left no room for KL Rahul or Jitesh Sharma. While Rahul hasn't played a T20I since the last World Cup, Jitesh has been part of India's recent T20I squads but has been in poor form this IPL.
Eight of the 15 players selected, including captains Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, featured in India's 2022 T20 World Cup campaign. Following their semi-final defeat to England, the BCCI made sweeping changes to experiment with younger players. However, Rohit and Kohli returned to the T20I squad ahead of the Afghanistan series at home in January after an absence of more than a year.
The series also marked a return to international cricket for Dube, who top-scored with 124 runs in three innings. His ability to take down spin in the middle overs for Chennai Super Kings over the past two IPL seasons, and his improvement against fast bowling in 2024, made him a compelling selection. Dube's inclusion means Rinku, India's designated T20I finisher for the past eight months, doesn't make the 15.
Prior to Rohit's return to the T20I side in January, India had been captained mostly by Hardik since the 2022 T20 World Cup, with Suryakumar Yadav stepping in after Hardik injured his ankle during the ODI World Cup last October-November. Suryakumar led India in the five-match home T20I series against Australia in November and the three-match tour of South Africa in December. The upcoming World Cup will be his first T20I since then, following his comeback from an ankle injury and sports hernia in the IPL.
Chahal also played his last T20I eight months ago and could finally get his first T20 World Cup after playing 80 T20Is over the years. In 2021, Rahul Chahal was preferred to him, and in 2022, R Ashwin and Axar Patel were regulars in the Indian XI even when Chahal was out. He has taken 13 wickets in nine matches so far in the 2024 IPL, with an economy of 9.00 despite bowling in the death overs.
The squad will leave India for the USA in batches, with the first leaving on May 21. This group will include head coach Rahul Dravid and other members of the coaching staff, as well as players from the IPL 2024 teams that are not in the playoffs. The last day of the league phase of IPL 2024 is May 19, with the playoffs starting on May 21 and the tournament concluding on May 26.
India begin their World Cup campaign against Ireland in New York on 5 June and then play Pakistan, USA, and Canada on June 9, 12 and 15
India squad for 2024 T20 World Cup
(With player's IPL 2024 stats as of April 30)
1. Rohit Sharma (capt) (311 runs, strike rate 160.30)
2. Yashasvi Jaiswal (249 runs, strike rate 154.65)
3. Virat Kohli (500 runs, strike rate 147.49)
4. Suryakumar Yadav (166 runs, strike rate 171.13)
5. Rishabh Pant (398 runs, strike rate 158.56)
6. Sanju Samson (385 runs, strike rate 161.08)
7. Hardik Pandya (197 runs, strike rate 151.53, 4 wickets, economy rate 11.94)
8. Shivam Dube (350 runs, strike rate 172.41)
9. Ravindra Jadeja (157 runs, strike rate 131.93, 5 wickets, economy rate 7.54)
10. Axar Patel (149 runs, strike rate 124.16, 9 wickets, economy rate 7.24)
11. Kuldeep Yadav (12 wickets, economy rate 12.45)
12. Yuzvendra Chahal (13 wickets, economy rate 9.00)
13. Arshdeep Singh (12 wickets, economy rate 9.63)
14. Jasprit Bumrah (14 wickets, economy rate 6.63)
15. Mohammed Siraj (6 wickets, economy rate 9.50)
Reserve players
Shubman Gill (320 runs, strike rate 140.96)
Rinku Singh (123 runs, strike rate 150)
Khaleel Ahmed (12 wickets, economy rate 9.47)
Avesh Khan (9 wickets, economy rate 9.54)