T20 World Cup: Agarkar, Rohit to have informal meeting on team selection in Delhi as deadline date nears
Agarkar, Rohit to have informal meeting on team selection for T20 WC - Reports
BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar and India captain Rohit Sharma are said to have an informal meeting on the team selection for the upcoming 2024 T20 World Cup (in the Caribbean and the USA) in New Delhi as the deadline date (May 1) for the squad submission nears. Under ICC’s regulations, all participating teams must submit their final squads one month before the start of the tournament, which gets underway on June 1.
As per the latest reports, Agarkar flew to the national capital to watch the Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians IPL clash the other day and is said to be sitting with Rohit before the selectors decide on the final 15 for the 20-team tournament.
Although most of the first-team players will walk into the side for the marquee event, the decision-makers will discuss the selection of a couple of players. Earlier reports suggested that there won’t be many surprises in the final 15, with the focus on MI captain Hardik Pandya. Under Pandya’s captaincy, Mumbai has struggled to find a rhythm, losing six out of the nine contested matches.
While Pandya looks out of sorts as he struggles with the bat in hand, selectors would look into how he bowls as they wish to name one of the two between Pandya and Shivam Dube for the all-rounders’ slot in the Indian Team.
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Meanwhile, Dube has pressed for his case for selection with his outstanding show this season, with the ball in the selectors’ court on whom to pick.
Outside of the regulars, including Rishabh Pant as the first-choice keeper, KL Rahul is said to be leading the race for the backup choice, with Sanju Samson lagging despite power showing in IPL 2024. For the middle and lower order, two batters tobe discussedare Rinku Singh and MI’s Tilak Varma. While both have impressed with their constant performances this season, Rinku might make the cut ahead of Varma.
Who’d be the bowlers?
Ace seamer Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh are the likely contenders for the pace department; the selectors are also keen on picking two spin-bowling all-rounders in Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, with Kuldeep Yadav being the lone specialist.
However, the selectors are not ruling out the inclusion of Yuzvendra Chahal or Ravi Bishnoi as the second-choice spinner, with Avesh Khan and Mukesh Kumar in line to find a place in the side for the 2024 T20 World Cup.
