The Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) Senior Selection Committee led by its Chairman Ajit Agarkar on Tuesday picked India’s 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, which will be hosted in the West Indies and USA.

Veteran 37-year old opener Rohit Sharma who was part of the Indian team that won the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup inaugural edition way back in 2007 under MS Dhoni’s leadership, has been entrusted with the task of leading the squad. Experienced all-rounder Hardik Pandya on the other hand will be his deputy. Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson known for their explosive batting in the top order and deft glovework behind the stumps have been selected as wicketkeepers.  Hard hitting batter Shivam Dube too has made the cut along with Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel  as the other three all-rounders.

India will begin their World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5, 2024 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, followed by the marquee clash against Pakistan on June 9, 2024 at the same venue. India will then play USA and Canada on June 12 and 15 respectively.

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, Mohd. Siraj.

Reserves – Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.

Following the announcement of the Indian T20 World Cup 2024 squad, Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar and skipper Rohit Sharma in their interaction with the media representatives in Mumbai on Thursday shared their views on wide range of queries raised by sports journalists. Among prominent ones were 15-member team selection, the omission of the finisher Rinku Singh and wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul,  Virat Kohil’ strike-rate, Hardik Pandya’s form and injury issues, hard hitting middle order batter Shivam Dube role as an all-rounder,  team’s ideal combination, opening combination in the world cup, absence of genuine off spinners in the team among others.

Agarkar labelled Rinku's omission as ‘unfortunate’ in the face of making way for an extra bowler, he further opinionated that experienced  Kohli has been good form, backed by his performance in IPL 2024 for RCB (scored 500 runs in 10 matches with one century and four fifties at SR of 147.49). He further expressed that the all-rounder Hardik Pandya (who will be Rohit’s deputy) who is playing his first competitive tourney in IPL 2024, following an ankle injury suffered during an ODI World Cup match against Bangladesh last year, with his wealth of international experience brings in rare skill set to the table.

Rohit on the other hand was confident that his Mumbai team mate Shivam will deliver the results with the ball too in the global event, following his experience in the BCCI domestic circuit and the choice of the opening pair (Rohit- Kohli both probably playing their final world cup tourney or Rohit- Jaiswal) would depend on the conditions, opposition in West Indies / USA in line with the playing XI.