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(From left) Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya. (Agencies)
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya are among the 10 reported automatic choices for India’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup squad.
When Indian selectors meet later in April to pick a 15-man squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, they will reportedly be debating over five spots as 10 players are all but confirmed to make the cut.
Performances in the ongoing IPL 2024 will play a vital role in finalising who fills the vacant five slots but it’s not going to be an easy task for the selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar. The reason being there are too many claimants for the limited vacancies with as many as four claimants for the spot of second wicketkeeper alone.
According to a report by news agency PTI, besides captain Rohit Sharma, the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav have a confirmed berth.
However, there’s a battle brewing between several top IPL performers for the remaining positions especially for the second wicketkeeper. Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, Jitesh Sharma and Dhruv Jurel are among the contenders to be Pant’s backup.
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Gill vs Jaiswal
With reports emerging that the Indian selectors might put Rohit and Kohli together to open the innings at the world cup, there is a fight between young duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill for the backup opener’s spot.
Jaiswal hasn’t had a good IPL thus far but his past record is excellent. Gill though has been in decent form but will have to be consistent to steer clear of Jaiswal in the race.
With Kuldeep and Jadeja being the first-choice spinners, there’s a three-way battle for the reserve spot between Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravi Bishnoi.
Axar has a slight edge over his two rivals because of his batting and fielding. Chahal though is a much better bowler of the three but if past is any indication, he might end up missing the bus again.
Hasibur Rahaman is a passionate sports journalist. He covers everything from cricket to field hockey, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis of sporting events, both within India and on the international stage.
