Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped, KL Rahul first-choice WK over Rishabh Pant in India's T20 World Cup squad of Kris Srikkanth

Yashasvi Jaiswal (L) found no place in Srikkanth’s squad, while KL Rahul (c) leapfrogged Rishabh Pant (R) as first-choice WK

Team India’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2024 will be announced in the next few days. Justifiably, speculations are rife over who would make it to the 15-member touring party to the USA and the West Indies, and many former India cricketers have joined the debate as they suggest their own squads, stepping into the selectors’ issue and take the difficult decisions. On Saturday, India’s 1983 World Cup winner Krishnamachari Srikkanth also announced his squad for the marquee tournament in June, which saw some notable exclusions.

In Srikkanth’s squad, captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli open the innings for the side; a fair number of experts, including former India captain Sourav Ganguly, believe that the experienced Indian batting pair should kickstart the Indian innings at the T20 World Cup. However, Srikkanth omitted India’s explosive opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, as well as Shubman Gill, both of whom have been T20I regulars for the side.

Also read Yuvraj Singh’s verdict on Dinesh Karthik vs Rishabh Pant vs Sanju Samson T20 World Cup race: ‘The thing with DK is…’

According to Srikkanth, it would be difficult for Jaiswal to find a place in the squad as he is an opener and cannot bat in the middle-order.

Suryakumar Yadav bats at no.3 for Srikkanth, while Shivam Dube, who set the IPL alight with a number of explosive performances over the past few weeks, was No.4. Under-fire all-rounder Hardik Pandya followed Dube at 5; the Mumbai Indians skipper has struggled with both, bat and ball, over the 2024 season so far. Hardik has, however, been a T20I regular over the past year and was also the captain of the side in the absence of Rohit Sharma in the format.

The wicketkeeper conundrum

While Srikkanth acknowledged that there is a three-way competition for two wicketkeeper slots in the squad, he picked KL Rahul as his first-choice keeper but remained undecided on the second slot between Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson. Srikkath argued that Samson will find it more difficult to find a place than Pant, as the former is best suited for a top-order role – where Suryakumar Yadav has cemented his place.

Interestingly, KL Rahul bats at no.6 for Srikkanth despite the fact that the senior wicketkeeper-batter played as an opener in his last T20I outing for India and continues to open the innings for the Lucknow Super Giants in the ongoing IPL season.

Ravindra Jadeja, who has also been among the regulars for the Indian team across all formats, is No.7 in Srikkanth’s XI for the T20 World Cup, with in-form left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav following him at 8. Interestingly, the remaining three slots are filled by fast bowlers, with Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, and Jasprit Bumrah making up the XI.

Rinku Singh, who shot to fame in last year’s IPL and has been consistently performing for the Indian team since then, also found a place in Srikkanth’s squad, with Axar Patel and T Natarajan — another fast bowler — filling up the remaining positions.

Srikkanth remained undecided over Pant and Samson, leaving the debate up to the selectors for the final slot in the squad.

Read more news like this on HindustanTimes.com