The T20 World Cup 2024 is just round the corner and with the national selectors working hard on the Indian cricket team squad announcement, the importance of a tournament like IPL 2024 cannot be downplayed. The IPL has produced several impressive performances till now and NDTV have decided to pick a 15-member squad completely based on performances in the competition. The selection was completed keeping just their roles and IPL 2024 performances in mind with no consideration for reputation and past numbers. Here's a look at the India's T20 World Cup 2024 squad picked purely based on IPL 2024 performances -
Openers: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Rohit Sharma
Ruturaj has assumed the position of CSK skipper with complete ease and with 349 runs from 8 matches, the right-hander is looking in supreme form. He has already scored a century in the tournament this year and his strike rate of 142.44 shows that he is capable of accelerating at the right time.
India skipper Rohit Sharma has also shown flashes of good form and with 311 runs in 9 matches, his aggressive approach has turned into an asset for his side. The third option is clearly Abhishek Sharma - the left-hander who has set IPL 2024 on fire with his explosive batting.
With 288 runs in 8 matches with a strike rate of 218, Abhishek basically picks himself in the squad and his knack of hitting boundaries almost every 3 balls makes him the perfect pick alongside Rohit and Ruturaj.
Batters: Virat Kohli, Riyan Parag, Shivam Dube
There can be no India squad without Virat Kohli and although the chatter over strike rate has dominated headlines, it cannot be ignored that he is the highest run-scorer in IPL 2024. Along with Kohli, the two batters who have impressed massively are Rajasthan Royals' Riyan Parag and Chennai Super Kings' Shivam Dube. Both are explosive middle-order choices for the Indian cricket team and if the situation arises, both Dube and Parag are capable of providing some valuable overs of spin for the team.
Wicket-keepers: Sanju Samson, KL Rahul
The wicket-keeping position is one that was heavily contested but KL Rahul and Sanju Samson are just ahead of other major contenders like Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik. Rahul has scored 378 runs in 9 matches and his presence in the side offers a lot of flexibility as he can be used as an opener, a wicket-keeper batter or even a specialist middle-order batter. On the other hand, Sanju has looked in sublime form and the RR skipper has slammed 385 runs with four half-centuries in 9 matches.
All-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel
Axar Patel has been quite effective for Delhi Capitals but due to the lackluster form of the side, his contributions have flown slightly under the radar. With the ball, he picked up 7 wickets at an economy rate of 7.36 and also scored 134 runs at a strike rate of 135.35. A similar situation has happened with Ravindra Jadeja who has batted at No. 4 on several occasions and provided several crucial breakthroughs.
Bowlers: Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan
Chahal and Kuldeep have taken 25 wickets between them and the 'Kul-Cha' partnership is looking like the best specialist spin duo for India in T20 World Cup. In the pace department, there can be no debates on Jasprit Bumrah as the pacer is the leading wicket-taker in IPL 2024 right now with 14 scalps.
Sandeep Sharma has been a revelation with 8 wickets and an impressive economy rate while Sunrisers Hyderabad's T Natarajan can be the perfect left-arm pace option. With 12 wickets from 6 matches, he has impressed with his performances and his economy rate of 8.70 can be a major asset.