The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) finally announced the India squad for the T20 World Cup 2024, slated to take place in the West Indies and the USA on June 1st.
Rohit Sharma will continue to lead the Men in Blue while all-rounder Hardik Pandya is appointed vice-captain for the showpiece event. The star players like Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal and Suryakumar Yadav are part of the 15-member squad.
Expectedly, Shivam Dube has been included in the squad due to impressive run of form in IPL 2024. Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Sanju Samson and Arshdeep Singh too have made the cut. Earlier, it was reported that Samson will be the first choice wicketkeeper for the T20 World Cup 2024.
Meanwhile, Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan have been picked as travelling reserves.
However, fans are unhappy with the squad due to exclusion of Rinku Singh from it. Though the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter has been included in travelling reserves, the fans were of the opinion that he should have been picked in the main squad rather than being a reserve player for the T20 World Cup.
Fans took to social media, especially X (formerly Twitter) and slammed BCCI for their favouritism towards certain players as the reason behind the exclusion of Rinku Singh from the squad.
Here's how netizens reacted to Rinku Singh's exclusion from main squad
India aim to end their ICC title drought
Meanwhile, Team India will travel to the West Indies and USA with an aim of ending their 11-year ICC title drought at the T20 World Cup 2024. The last time they won an ICC trophy was the Champions Trophy in 2013. Since then, the Men in Blue didn't have an ICC title.
Team India inched the closer to winning the ODI World Cup last year after winning 10 matches on the trot, including the semifinal against New Zealand, but they failed to hold of the coveted trophy after heartbreaking loss to the sixth-time champions Australia in the Final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on November 19.
India were the champions of the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup in 2007 under the leadership of MS Dhoni. Since then, the Men in Blue have been eluded from the winning the prestigious trophy despite reaching the final again in 2014, where they lost to Sri Lanka.
In T20 World Cup 2022, India reached the semifinal but they were thrashed by the eventual champions England.
Getting another shot at winning the ICC trophy, Rohit Sharma-led India will look to given their all to clinch the T20 World Cup title.
