Ajit Agarkar explains reason behind Rinku Singh snub for ICC T20 World Cup 2024

Rinku Singh will be part of the Indian team as a travelling reserve for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

Former pacer and current chief selector of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Ajit Agarkar, has opened up about why the selection committee took the bold move to snub in-form lower-middle order batter Rinku Singh from the 15-member squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. The marquee tournament will be jointly hosted by the West Indies and the USA in the month of June.

The BCCI announced the Indian squad for the upcoming global event on April 30. Soon after the announcement, the cricketing world was left in shock as the Indian selectors made a bold move to exclude Rinku and include him in the list of reserves.

The 26-year-old Rinku has been performing brilliantly for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) since the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL). After having a phenomenal IPL 2023, Rinku earned his maiden call-up for the Indian side in the shortest format.

Since making his debut for the Men in Blue, Rinku has played 15 T20Is and amassed 356 runs at a stunning strike rate of 176.23 at an average of 89.00. The left-handed batter has also played a crucial role in giving the finishing touch to the Indian side and for his IPL franchise.

Despite having a superb record in the shortest format for the past two years, Rinku failed to make a cut to the final 15 for the upcoming ICC event. Instead of him, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal were preferred in selection.

Ajit Agarkar explains why Rinku Singh has been left out of the T20 World Cup 2024 squad

During the press conference in Mumbai on May 2nd, Indian chief selector Agarkar explained about Rinku’s exclusion from the Indian squad for the upcoming marquee event. The BCCI chief selector added that the 26-year-old hasn’t done anything wrong. The former pacer further said that they wanted to add extra spinners to the 15-man line-up.

“Not his fault Rinku Singh missed out. He did nothing wrong and Shubman Gill as well for that matter. It was all about the combination we wanted to go with. We wanted to go with extra spinners. Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep give us that,” BCCI Chief Selector said.

Rohit Sharma opens up on why the selection committee included four frontline spinners

Indian all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are the two finger spinners in the squad, while the selectors also included two wrist spinners, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, as they will provide variety in the spin bowling attack.

However, Indian captain Rohit Sharma has opened up about why the BCCI selection panel included four frontline spinners in the squad for the T20 World Cup 2024.

Sharma added that there’s a bit of a technical aspect to picking all four spinners, as in the USA the matches start at 10–10:30 am in the morning. Rohit further explained that they will decide their combinations depending on the opposition.

“I wanted four spinners. Match starts at probably 10-10:30 am in the morning. There’s a little bit of technical aspect in picking four spinners. Probably will address during the world cup. And three seamers with Hardik being the fourth. You get the balance. With two spinners – Jadeja and Axar – allrounders can bat. We will decide our combinations depending on the opposition. There’s a chance both Kuldeep and Chahal play together. All sorts of combination possible,” Rohit Sharma said during the press conference.

India squad for T20 World Cup 2024:

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

Travelling reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan

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