India T20 World Cup squad: Pant, Dube and Samson qualify

Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube and Sanju Samson have been named in India's 15-man squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup starting June 1 in the USA and West Indies. The team, which was announced on Tuesday afternoon, will be led by Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya will take over as vice-captain.

Yuzvendra Chahal, who was not part of India's final T20I squads for the series in South Africa and at home against Afghanistan in January, has been selected on the back of his IPL form and is one of four spin options, along with the left-arm spinner. Kuldeep Yadav, left-arm bowlers Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel.

The pace attack squad has just three specialists – Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh – along with Hardik and Dube as bowling options.

Yashasvi Jaiswal has been preferred as Rohit's opening partner, while Shubman Gill has been selected as a stand-in player alongside lower-order batsman Rinku Singh and fast bowlers Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.

Pant has not played a T20I since a car accident in December 2022, and has returned to the team with his performances in IPL 2024. His 398 runs have come in 11 innings at a strike rate of 158.56. Over the course of the season, he also allayed any doubts that might have existed about his wicket-keeping.

This is Samson's first selection in the World Cup squad, after missing out to Dinesh Karthik in 2022. Like Pant, Samson has been in fine form as captain of Rajasthan Royals, who top the IPL 2024 league table with eight wins in nine matches. He has scored 385 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 161.08 so far. The inclusion of Pant and Samson left no room for KL Rahul or Jitesh Sharma. While Rahul has not played a T20I since the previous World Cup, Jitesh has been part of India's recent T20I squads, but has been in poor form in the IPL.

Nine of the 15 players selected, including captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, have featured in India's 2022 T20 World Cup campaign. Following their semi-final defeat to England, BCCI made sweeping changes in a bid to experiment with younger players. However, Rohit and Kohli returned to the T20I squad after an absence of more than a year ahead of the Afghanistan series at home in January.

That series also marked an international comeback for Dube, who top-scored with 124 runs in three innings. His ability to reduce spin in the middle for Chennai Super Kings over the past two seasons in the IPL, and his improvement against fast bowling in 2024, has made him a compelling pick. Dube's inclusion meant that Rinku, India's designated T20I winner over the past eight months, could not reach the 15th position.

Before Rohit returned to the T20I team in January, Hardik had mostly captained India since the 2022 T20 World Cup, while Suryakumar Yadav stood out after Hardik injured his ankle during the ODI World Cup last October and November. Suryakumar captained India in the five-match T20I series at home against Australia in November and in the three-match match in South Africa in December. The upcoming World Cup will be his first T20I tournament since then, after returning to the Indian Premier League from an ankle injury and sports hernia.

Chahal also played his latest T20I eight months ago and can finally play his first T20 World Cup after playing 80 T20Is over the years. Rahul Chahar was preferred over him in 2021, and in 2022, R Ashwin and Axar Patel featured in India's playing XI regularly even during Chahal's absence. He has so far taken 13 wickets in nine matches in IPL 2024, with an economy of 9.00 despite bowling at the death overs.

The team will leave India for the USA in batches, with the first group departing on May 21. This travel group will include head coach Rahul Dravid, other members of the coaching staff and squad members from the delisted IPL 2024 teams. Playoffs. The last day for league stage matches in IPL 2024 is May 19, and the qualifiers begin on May 21 before the tournament ends on May 26.

India begins its World Cup campaign by facing Ireland on June 5 in New York, then plays Pakistan, the United States and Canada on June 9, 12 and 15.

India squad for 2024 T20 World Cup

Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashavi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Reserve players: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan