T20 World Cup: Rinku Singh the fall guy as India fall back on experienced stars

A splendid Indian Premier League season has taken Sanju Samson to the Indian T20 World Cup squad, while an underwhelming campaign has cost Shubman Gill a spot in the touring party.

Samson has led Rajasthan Royals from the front this season, batting at No.3 and keeping wicket. Gill, who was skipper Rohit Sharma’s opening partner in the 50-over World Cup six months ago, has had a lacklustre season after taking over the reins at Gujarat Titans. This seems to have relegated him to the reserves’ list announced alongside the 15-member probables’ squad announced by the BCCI senior selection committee on Tuesday. The T20 World Cup will be held in the Caribbean and the United States in June.

Sharma had already been announced by BCCI secretary Jay Shah as the captain and Virat Kohli was expected to be part of the side. Hardik Pandya, who has had a tough time in the IPL, both on and off the field as Mumbai Indians skipper, has been named vice-captain. The selectors were keen to have a seam-bowling all-rounder and Pandya was the best available option.

Shivam Dube has been dynamite with the bat for Chennai Super Kings, but hasn’t bowled due to the Impact Player rule, but the left-hander’s six-hitting ability was too much for the selectors to ignore. He seems to have got in at the expense of Rinku Singh, who hasn’t got too many deliveries to face for Kolkata Knight Riders and is named among the reserves.

Rinku was probably the best batsman in a scenario that India might find themselves in the World Cup: 40 runs from the last two overs. With his balance at crease, no visible flaws against pace or spin, and with his temperament and past-experience in such situations where he can tee-off on arrival, he would have been ideal, but that boat has sailed now.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Suryakumar Yadav, the No.1 T20I batsman according to ICC rankings, find themselves among the 15, while Rishabh Pant, who returned to the game in the IPL after a horrific car crash in December 2022, makes a comeback.

Spin-dominant attack

Apart from Jasprit Bumrah and with Mohammed Shami out injured, the pace bowling cupboard didn’t have much to choose from. Until recently, Mohammed Siraj had been leaking runs, but found a place in the squad along with left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh. The three are the only specialist pacers in the squad with the selectors hoping that Pandya, or even Dube, can contribute, if required. Avesh Khan and Khaleel Ahmed are in the reserves’ list.

But India would rely heavily on spinners with four specialists selected in the form of Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel. Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi has not had a good IPL, which seems to have gone against him.

Back to bigwigs

Kohli is top of the run-makers’ list in IPL 2024 with 500 runs, with Pant fourth (398) and Samson sixth (385), with a strike rate of over 161. KL Rahul follows in seventh spot, but with the top-order places already confirmed and question marks still on the strike rate of the Lucknow Super Giants skipper, he misses out.

Gill is 13th on the list with Sharma 15th, but the latter has a much higher strike rate of over 160.

Sharma and Kohli didn’t feature in any T20Is since the last World Cup till the Afghanistan series at the start of this year. India’s conservative approach was deemed to be contrary to the requirements of the modern demands of the format and the selectors seemed to have gone for a younger, more dynamic batting line-up that puts a lower price on their wickets and tries to score at a much higher strike rate throughout the innings.

But they have gone back to the experienced duo for a major ICC event, and time will tell whether it is proved to be a prudent move.

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