The Indian cricket team squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup is out with some very surprising calls. While top names like captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant made the cut expectedly, there were some omissions which raised eyebrows. In-form KL Rahul and Riyan Parag were not included, while Rinku Singh was sent to reserves. In-form opener Ruturaj Gaikwad was ignored too while SunRisers Hyderabad pacer T Natarajan was completely overlooked, though his performance is better than selected pacers Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh.
Another name that was missing was Ravi Bishnoi. Currently No. 6 in the world. the leg-spinner has so far taken five wickets in nine matches in the IPL. Irfan Pathan, member of India's 2007 T20 World Cup winning squad, questioned his absence.
"If I am Sitting pretty at 6th in the ICC T20i rankings, but not in the World Cup lineup, it's a tough pill to swallow. #Ravibishnoi," he wrote on X.
India begin their 2024 T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, followed by the marquee clash against Pakistan on June 9 at the same venue. India will then play USA and Canada on June 12 and 15 respectively.
India Squad for T20 WC: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Hardik Pandya (Vice Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.
Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan