'He has done nothing...': Ajit Agarkar on Rinku Singh's exclusion from T20 WC squad

Indian captain Rohit Sharma and chief selector Ajit Agarkar addressed the media on Thursday (May 2) regarding the squad picked for the T20 World Cup,scheduled to get underway in the West Indies and USA next month. Quizzed about the controversial exclusion of Rinku Singh, Agarkar said it was the 'toughest' decision he has had to take and that Rinku had nothing wrong to deserve the snub.

The fans and former cricketers have been fuming ever since Rinku was dropped from the squad, despite having provenhis worth in the shortest format of the game, whenever given a chance.

"Toughest thing we have had to do. He [Rinku]has done nothing wrong or for that matter Shubman Gill. It is about the combination...we are not sure about the conditions we will get," said Agarkar.

"We wanted to try and have enough options. There area couple of wrist spinners included - Chahal and Kuldeep to give Rohit more options. Axar, again, a batting allrounder or rather bowling allrounder," he added.

Agarkar, who donned the Indian jersey in four T20Is said it was unfortunate that Rinku missed out on the WC flight.

"Itis just unfortunate, I don't think it has anything to do with Rinku. It is not his ball that he hasmissed out," said Agarkar.

"He is still one of the travelling subs, that's how close he was. I know it can be a little bit tough on him but at the end of the day, you can only pick 15."

Addressing concerns about why four spinners were included in the squad when one of the places could have gone to Rinku, Rohit cleared that he wanted four spinners in the squad.

"I wanted four spinners. The match starts at 10 in the morning and there is little technical aspect involved. I won't give the entire reason for it," said Rohit.

Fans furious

Ever since making his debut for the Indian team in the T20 format, Rinku has been one of the most consistent batters.In his short 15-match T20I career so far, Rinku has scored 356 runs at an enviable average of 89 and strike rate of 176.24.

Despite the stats backing Rinku's ability,the selectors opted to go with Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube as the preferred finishers, primarily due to their bowling abilities.

"We want someone in the middle over to play that role [hitting big]and playfreely and we picked Dube based on what he's done in IPL. We spoke about it and selected but our playing XI isn't guaranteed," said Rohit on Dube's selection.

On Wednesday (May 1), Rinku's father, Khanchandra Singh, revealed that his son was heartbroken after being excluded from the squad.

India squad:

Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj

Reserves:Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan

(With inputs from agencies)