Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson in India's T20 World Cup squad, KL Rahul misses out

Sanju Samson-1-1714473639255 — Rajasthan Royals' captain Sanju Samson's impressive form in the Indian Premier League has helped him cement a place in the Indian Team for Twenty20 World Cup. Image Credit: AFP

Dubai: Dependable batter KL Rahul has been dropped from the Indian team while in-form Sanju Samson has been picked as the second wicketkeeper-batter to Rishabh Pant in the squad for the Twenty20 World Cup to be held in the West Indies and USA in June.

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The senior selection committee on Tuesday picked India’s 15-member squad, which will be led by Rohit Sharma while Hardik Pandya as his deputy. Opener Shubman Gill also fails to find a spot in the team and has been named in the reserves along with Rinku Singh.

Dube stakes his claim

Shivam Dube has been preferred due to his destructing expoilts for Chennai Super Kings during this Indian Premier League Season 17.

India will begin their World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, followed by the marquee clash against Pakistan on June 9 at the same venue. India will then play USA and Canada on June 12 and 15 respectively.

Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav are back in the squad after recovering from injuries while Rishabh Pant also makes his first return to international cricket after a horror car crash 16 months ago.

Copy of 030527-01-02-1713983026897 — Rishabh Pant makes his international return from a horror clash 16 months ago. The Delhi left-hander has been impressive form since the beginning of the IPL Season 17. Image Credit: AFP

The 26-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman has impressed with his return to elite cricket this year, scoring 398 runs from 11 games in the ongoing Indian Premier League.

He will be among a 15-member squad headed to the United States and West Indies for the tournament starting June 1.

Tough IPL season

Star all-rounder Pandya is coming back into the T20 team after an ankle injury sustained during last year’s ODI World Cup at home forced him to sit out the Afghanistan series in January.

Pandya has struggled with consistency in a tough IPL so far after he replaced veteran Rohit Sharma as captain of Mumbai Indians.

Support for Pandya

He has been relentlessly booed by the crowd during his appearances after failing to match the form of his resoundingly popular successor, prompting frustration from the Mumbai camp.

“I am sick and fed up of (people) looking to pinpoint individuals,” batting coach Kieron Pollard said after one instance this month.

“This is an individual that is going to represent the country in less than six weeks’ time, and all are going to cheer him and want him to do well.”

Squad:

Rohit Sharma (Captain), Hardik Pandya (Vice Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed. Siraj.