India announced their 15-member squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup today and as many as eight of those names had also featured in the 2022 edition in Australia, and seven out of those eight were part of the semi-final against England.
Since that humiliating ten-wicket defeat in the semis, there was a lot of noise regarding the outdated brand of cricket by the Men in Blue in the shortest format but the noise has not resulted in any action. The selectors did try a lot of young faces since the semis defeat in 2022 but the return of bigwigs Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli lend a very usual look to the 2024 squad.
The batting order is unlikely to be any different from the 2022 edition and is highly likely to have just a couple of new names. Rohit, Virat, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya featured in the side’s last appearance in the World Cup and that fixture saw only one batter – Hardik – play with intent as he muscled a 33-ball 63.
It now remains to be seen how much of an impact Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube’s inclusion in the squad makes because India desperately need their firepower with the bat.
India expect help for spinners
The makeup of the squad – four spinners, two seam bowling all-rounders and just three quicks – suggest the Indian think-tank is expecting spinners to play a big role in the T20 World Cup. The men’s senior selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar have preferred Yuzvendra Chahal over Ravi Bishnoi, who was a regular for India in the format, and picked two finger spinners in Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel and another wrist spinner in Kuldeep Yadav.
While Jadeja’s returns have been a bit indifferent in the format, Axar has been one of the finest left-arm spinners in the circuit at the moment. Even in this IPL, he has kept things really tight for Delhi Capitals and has managed to control different phases of the game.
Out-of-form seamers
Axar’s control in the powerplay could well allow Rohit to go in with a spin-heavy bowling attack as the seamers, except Bumrah, don’t promise much on current form. Both Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh have been very erratic in this year’s Indian Premier League, and need to rediscover their mojo before boarding the flight to USA.
Arshdeep has picked 12 wickets in nine games but his economy rate is touching 10 this season. Siraj too is leaking runs at 9.50 in the nine games he has played for Royal Challengers Bengaluru this season. The right-armer had a brilliant season for RCB last year – 19 wickets from 14 matches – but has lacked rhythm, control and penetration this year.
The return
The story of the squad, however, has been the return of Rishabh Pant. Declared fit ahead of the IPL, not many had him in their World Cup probables list but the left-hander made an instant impact with both bat and gloves to return to India squad. Sanju Samson is the other wicketkeeper-batter in the squad and like Pant, he too is having a brilliant year with the Rajasthan Royals and his side is currently leading the table with eight wins.
The axe falls on young guns
With the bigwigs back in the mix, the axe was going to fall on some talented youngsters and both Shubman Gill and Rinku Singh failed to find a spot in the 15. Yes, Gill had an underwhelming IPL so far but he was fantastic for Gujarat Titans last year and Rinku has failed to put a foot wrong in the Indian jersey as a finisher. Like Gill, Rinku too is yet to set the IPL 2024 stage on fire but if only IPL performances were going to be the criteria, many in the squad would have struggled to find a place.
The squad of 15 and 4 travelling reserves is on the expected lines and it now remains to be seen if Rohit Sharma and Co. can walk the intent talk.
Complete List of T20 World Cup 2024 Squads
India T20 World Cup squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan
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