Rohit Sharma will lead a 15-man T20 World Cup squad and Hardik Pandya will be its vice-captain, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) said in a statement on Tuesday, April 30. Sanju Samson and Yuzvendra Chahal were rewarded for their stellar IPL performances while Rinku Singh and KL Rahul were two of the biggest misses.
Virat Kohli, as expected, made the 15-man squad along with young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal. Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant was named in the T20I squad after his heroic return to competitive action in the IPL. Pant was not a regular in the T20I mix even before he suffered the car crash in December 2022. However, his stellar show with both bat and gloves, scoring 398 runs in 11 matches.
Meanwhile, Sanju Samson, who missed the ODI World Cup squad last year, was rewarded for his stellar run in IPL 2024. The Rajasthan captain has been picked ahead of KL Rahul, who was also in contention.
Hardik Pandya, who has had a tough run in IPL 2024 as MI captain, has been backed to do the job as Rohit Sharma’s deputy. Hardik led India in 16 matches when Rohit Sharma was not playing T20Is to focus on the build-up to the ODI World Cup last year. India also have picked seam-bowling all-rounder Shivam Dube, who has been in blistering six-hitting form for CSK in IPl 2024.
Rohit Sharma (c), Yashashvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav. Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal. Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rimku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan
