India’s T20 World Cup squad – Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube and Sanju Samson make the cut

Pant hasn’t played a T20I since his car accident in December 2022, and has worked his way back into the squad through his performances in IPL 2024. His 398 runs in 11 innings have come at a strike rate of 158.56. Over the course of the season, he has also allayed any doubts there may have been over his wicketkeeping.

This is Samson’s first selection in a World Cup squad, after he missed out to Dinesh Karthik in 2022. Like Pant, Samson has been in prolific form as captain of Rajasthan Royals, who are on top of the IPL 2024 league table with eight wins in nine games. He has scored 385 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 161.08 so far. The inclusion of Pant and Samson left no room for KL Rahul or Jitesh Sharma. While Rahul has not played a T20I since the previous World Cup, Jitesh had been part of India’s recent T20I squads, but he’s been in poor form this IPL.

That series also marked an international return for Dube, who top-scored with 124 runs in three innings. His ability to take down spin in the middle overs for Chennai Super Kings over the past two IPL seasons, and his improvement against fast bowling in 2024, made him a compelling selection. Dube’s inclusion meant Rinku, India’s designated T20I finisher over the last eight months, couldn’t make the 15.

Chahal also played his most recent T20I eight months ago and could finally get to play his first T20 World Cup match after playing 80 T20Is over the years. Rahul Chahar was preferred over him in 2021, and in 2022, R Ashwin and Axar Patel featured in India’s XI regularly even as Chahal sat out. He has so far picked up 13 wickets in nine games in IPL 2024, with an economy of 9.00 despite bowling in the death overs.

The squad will leave India for the USA in batches, with the first one leaving on May 21. This travelling group will have head coach Rahul Dravid and other members of the coaching staff, and squad members from the IPL 2024 teams that are out of the playoffs. The last day of league-stage matches in IPL 2024 is May 19, and the playoffs begin on May 21 before the tournament finishes on May 26.

India begin their World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5 in New York, and then play Pakistan, USA and Canada on June 9, 12 and 15.

India squad for 2024 T20 World Cup

(With player’s IPL 2024 stats as of April 30)

1 Rohit Sharma (capt) (311 runs, strike rate 160.30)

2 Yashasvi Jaiswal (249 runs, strike rate 154.65)

3 Virat Kohli (500 runs, strike rate 147.49)

4 Suryakumar Yadav (166 runs, strike rate 171.13)

5 Rishabh Pant (398 runs, strike rate 158.56)

6 Sanju Samson (385 runs, strike rate 161.08)

7 Hardik Pandya (197 runs, strike rate 151.53, 4 wickets, economy rate 11.94)

8 Shivam Dube (350 runs, strike rate 172.41)

9 Ravindra Jadeja (157 runs, strike rate 131.93, 5 wickets, economy rate 7.54)

10 Axar Patel (149 runs, strike rate 124.16, 9 wickets, economy rate 7.24)

11 Kuldeep Yadav (12 wickets, economy rate 12.45)

12 Yuzvendra Chahal (13 wickets, economy rate 9.00)

13 Arshdeep Singh (12 wickets, economy rate 9.63)

14 Jasprit Bumrah (14 wickets, economy rate 6.63)

15 Mohammed Siraj (6 wickets, economy rate 9.50)

Reserve players

Shubman Gill (320 runs, strike rate 140.96)

Rinku Singh (123 runs, strike rate 150)

Khaleel Ahmed (12 wickets, economy rate 9.47)

Avesh Khan (9 wickets, economy rate 9.54)