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SPORTS MAY 10, 2024 | The Indian Eye 52

T20 WORLD CUP

Pandya in, Rinku out?

Team selection raises questions

about India’s chances

The addition of the two wrist spinners — Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav — means that

India have four spinners in their squad of 15, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel being the other two

OUR BUREAU

Mumbai
ith India declaring its T20
World Cup 2024 squad that
Whad a few surprising calls
from among the contenders, skipper
Rohit Sharma and chief selector Ajit
Agarkar on Thursday explained that
the choices were made due to combi-
nations that the team wanted.
Addressing a press conference,
Rohit Sharma and Ajit Agarkar an-
swered queries about Rinku Singh
not being part of the 15-member
squad and the omission of Shubhman
Gill. Calling it one of the “tough-
est decisions” the selectors had to
make, Agarkar said the two players
had done “nothing wrong” and the
choice dictated by the desired team
combinations.
“It [Rinku Singh’s omission from
the first 15] is probably the tough-
est thing we have had to discuss,”
Agarkar said. “He has done nothing
wrong, not even Shubman Gill for
that matter. It’s about combinations.
There are a couple of wrist spinners
included to give Rohit more options.
It’s just unfortunate. He’s in the re- Kolkata Knight Riders’ Rinku Singh plays a shot during an IPL match (ANI)
serves, so that tells you how close he
came to being in the 15. But at the “I don’t want to go into too much as well. Based on opposition compo- between Ash and Axar. Ash hasn’t
end of the day, you can only pick 15 detail because I am sure opposition sition we can decide who we want to played the format lately. Axar was
players in the squad,” Agarkar said. captains will listen to this,” he said. play with,” he added. in good form when he played those
The addition of the two wrist “I wanted more spinners; we Explaining why India didn’t pick five matches against Australia. He
spinners -- Yuzvendra Chahal and know what the conditions are like. an off-spinner despite the presence has been bowling well and gives us
Kuldeep Yadav -- means that India Matches start at 10-10.30 in the of four spinners in the squad, Rohit that left-handed option in the middle
has four spinners in their squad of morning. There’s a technical aspect said that it came down to Ravichan- [with the bat] if we want to do some-
15, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel involved in this. I wanted four spin- dran Ashwin and Axar Patel fighting thing different.”
being the other two. Rohit didn’t go ners and three seamers and with Har- for one spot, with the latter’s recent The other contentious call was
into the details behind the decision dik being there you get the balance. form helping him grab the spot. around the wicketkeepers with India
but revealed that India playing morn- With two spinners being all-round- “We discussed a lot, unfortu- leaving out KL Rahul, who shone in
ing games in the tournament was a ers, then two attacking spinners give nately, Washy [Washington Sundar] the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup
factor behind it. you balance in the spin department hasn’t played a lot lately. It was then Continued on next page... >>

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