India squad for T20 World Cup 2024 will be led by Rohit Sharma and his deputy would be Hardik Pandya. The India squad for the ICC tournament starting June 1 in the USA and the West Indies, will also have Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube.
The India squad for T20 World Cup 2024 announced on April 30, will also have legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who has been picked up on the back of his IPL form. He is back in India's T20I side after being ignored for the series in South Africa and the one at home against Afghanistan in January. Chahal would be the fourth spin bowling option for India along with Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja.
The pace bowling attack will be led by Jasprit Bumrah and his allies being Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj. The allrounders Pandya and Dube are also seam bowling options available with India. The T20 World Cup India squad also has reserve players in Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.
Yashasvi Jaiswal got the nod to be Rohit's opening partner ahead of Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad. Pant is making a comeback to the national team since his car accident in December 2022. His comeback to competitive cricket through the IPL has been impressive, be it his batting or wicketkeeping. Meanwhile, Samson's prolific form with the bat as well as captain of Rajasthan Royals has earned him a place in the India squad for the T20 World Cup 2024. Last time he missed out to Dinesh Karthik, and his selection has left KL Rahul and Jitesh Sharma out of the squad. Rahul last played T20I for India in the 2022 T20 World Cup, while Jitesh though being part of India's T20I setup in the previous series, has been left out because of poor returns in the IPL.
Eight out of the 15 players picked in the T20 World Cup 2024 India squad, including captain Rohit and Virat Kohli, who were part of India's 2022 T20 World Cup campaign. However, following their semifinal exit in that tournament, the BCCI decided to implement significant changes, aiming to introduce younger talents into the team. Despite this, Rohit and Kohli returned to the T20I squad after more than a year's absence, just in time for the series against Afghanistan at home in January.
This series marked the international comeback of Dube, who showcased his batting prowess by scoring 124 runs in three innings. His ability to tackle spin bowling in the middle overs, evident from his performances for Chennai Super Kings in the past two IPL seasons, coupled with his improved skills against fast bowling in 2024, justified his inclusion in the squad. Dube's inclusion, however, meant that Rinku Singh, who had been India's designated T20I finisher for the past eight months, missed out on a spot in the final 15.
Prior to Rohit's comeback, the Indian T20I team was mainly captained by Pandya since the 2022 T20 World Cup. However, when Hardik suffered an ankle injury during the ODI World Cup, Suryakumar Yadav took over the captaincy. Suryakumar led the team in the T20I series against Australia at home in November and in the subsequent series in South Africa in December. This T20 World Cup marks his return to the T20Is after recovering from an ankle injury and sports hernia, which he sustained during the IPL.
Chahal, who last played a T20I eight months ago, has the chance to feature in his maiden T20 World Cup match, having accumulated experience from 80 T20Is over the years. Despite being overlooked in favour of Rahul Chahar in 2021 and R Ashwin and Axar Patel in 2022, Chahal was in impressive form in the IPL 2024.
India will kick off their T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5 in New York, followed by matches against Pakistan, USA and Canada on June 9, 12 and 15, respectively.
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