We are just one day removed from the deadline for submitting the provisional squad for the T20 World Cup. While New Zealand have already announced their 15-member squad, the remaining 19 participating teams have yet to announce their squads for the biennial event. While Indian selectors and the BCCI management may be giving out fillers that IPL 2024 is not a marker for players’ selection, there is no denying that the player’s performances and their forms in the league will have a bearing on the selection process.
Interestingly, out of the ten IPL teams, seven are led by Indian players, and all are in contention to make the 15-member Indian squad for the T20 World Cup. While there are quite a few certainties from the IPL captaincy lot, who will make the squad, a few are bound to lose out.
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Here’s a look at which IPL captains will make it to the T20 World Cup squad(s) and who all could miss out:
Hardik Pandya – Mumbai Indians: PLAYING XI
First, let’s look at the skipper who talked the most about this IPL season – MI’s Hardik Pandya. His shift of allegiance from GT may not have gone well with the Mumbai fanbase, and with the five-time champions not having the best of seasons so far – currently languishing at the 9th spot – their chances of a playoff qualification look bleak. Also, as a player, Pandya has not had the desired impact. In nine matches, he has 197 runs, striking at 151.53, and with the ball, he only has four wickets at an economy rate of 11.94
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However, there is no denying the value a seam-bowling allrounder brings to the table in terms of balance for any team, and that is where Pandya is a rare commodity that Indian selectors cannot afford to ignore. More so, in the absence of Mohammad Shami, Pandya’s bowling will be helpful in support of Jasprit Bumrah and others. Having an allrounder in the playing XI lends the team management the extra option of adding a specialist batter or bowler in the playing XI, which adds more worth to Pandya’s skill set. Also, since he will most likely be the team’s vice-captain, there is no question that he will not be part of India’s T20 World Cup squad.
Rishabh Pant – Delhi Capitals: PLAYING XI
With 398 runs in 11 matches, wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant currently occupies the fourth spot in the Orange Cap list in IPL 2024. Primarily batting at No.4 for DC, Pant is striking at an impressive 158.56 and has had a couple of impactful innings in DC’s win this season. There were question marks over his match fitness and form as he was coming off a 14-month layoff after undergoing surgery and lengthy rehabilitation. Still, he has thrown out all of those doubts with a stellar IPL season so far and is head and shoulders above the rest as India’s first-choice keeper and middle-order enforcer at No.4 in India’s playing XI for the T20 World Cup.
Shubman Gill – Gujarat Titans: TRAVELLING RESERVE
With 320 runs in 12 matches, the Gujarat Titans skipper has been rock-solid for his team, who are very much in contention for an IPL 2024 playoff berth. Gill’s strike rate is 140.96, but the trouble for the ‘Crown Prince’ is the fact that the contenders for the top-order spot in India’s T20 World Cup are far too many, and at least two of them have a better IPL 2024 than the Punjab batter. Virat Kohli, opening the innings for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, is leading the Orange Cap tally and already has over 500 runs this season, striking at 147.49. Being the team’s captain, Rohit Sharma is assured of a spot in the playing XI. Then there is Yashasvi Jaiswal, a left-hander, who might pip Gill owing to his potential. Frankly, after a dull start to his IPL 2024 campaign, the Mumbai boy has put in timely performances to remind the selectors that he is not to be sidelined.
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Sanju Samson – Rajasthan Royals: 15-MEMBER SQUAD
The enigma of Sanju Samson has piqued this IPL season. In the past seasons, he has been notorious for fading away after sensational starts, but this season has been different; he has found consistency and, after nine matches, is in the sixth spot in the Orange Cap list with 385 runs, striking at 161.08. His direct competition is Pant, who frankly has better numbers, but Samson, with his performance, merits a place in the squad not just as a backup wicketkeeper but as a backup middle-order bat as well. Some may argue that he also makes a strong case at No.3 in the playing XI, but Suryakumar Yadav has made that spot his own. Despite the competition, Samson should be in the squad, but things have a funny way of working out. There have been some reports that the Indian think tank is looking at a lower-order bat as their backup wicketkeeper because the top-order is already crowded, and he may miss out on the likes of Jitesh Sharma or Dhruv Jurel. Well, that will be a travesty.
KL Rahul – Lucknow Super Giants: TRAVELLING RESERVE
Another top-order bat staking a solid claim to be in the 15-member squad is India’s 2022 T20 World Cup vice-captain, KL Rahul. He is also a wicketkeeper, so Samson and Pant are the direct competition. But can India afford to have Rohit, Kohli, and Rahul in the top three, considering how the nature of T20 games is shifting towards explosive starts? It’s a question the Indian selectors will be asking, and the answer, frankly, should be a no. But only time will tell. With 378 runs in nine matches, striking at 144.27, Rahul is making all the right noises, but how can he fit into the 15?
Ruturaj Gaikwad – Chennai Super Kings: OUT
No.2 in the Orange Cap list with 447 runs in nine matches, striking at 149.49 with one hundred, three fifties – one of them being a 98; the new CSK skipper, too, is in the mix for a top-order slot and has hefty numbers to back up his claim. But the question again arises: who from Kohli, Rohit, Jaiswal, Gill, Rahul, and Gaikwad can you pick for three opening slots for the T20 World Cup? Gaikwad is most likely the one who will miss out.
Shreyas Iyer – Kolkata Knight Riders: OUT
Once looked at as India’s future white-ball constant and even potential captain, after the departure of Virat Kohli, Iyer has had a roller-coaster for six months. Battling injuries, struggling form in red-ball, and termination of central contract, the KKR skipper needed a windfall IPL season this time to get into the conversation for the T20 World Cup squad. Unfortunately for him, even though KKR is one of the strong contenders to make the IPL 2024 playoffs, his personal form is nothing to write about. With 251 runs in nine matches, the middle-order bat is striking at a lowly 137.15 and is 25th in the Orange Cap list of IPL 2024. There is no way he makes India’s T20 World Cup squad.
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