There was no place for star all-rounder Hardik Pandya in former India spinner Harbhajan Singh’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the Americas. Ahead of the deadline for the squad selection, Harbhajan picked his 15 players he thinks should be part of the squad for the World Cup. Apart from Hardik, Harbhajan also left out the likes of Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer. He, however, didn’t hesitate while picking IPL’s latest sensation Mayank Yadav, despite the pacer currently out of action due to workload management issue.
Mayank, who has a knack of breaching the 150kmph mark regularly, has played just two games so far, picking up six wickets. Harbhajan isn’t the first ex-player to vouch for his selection.
In the batting department, Harbhajan picked the likes of Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal to open, with Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav at no. 3 and 4, respectively.
Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson are the two wicketkeepers Harbhajan decided to pick with Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube also in the mix as finishers.
He went all-in, as far as the bowling department is concerned, with seven players, including all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.
Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal were Harbhajan’s frontline spinners while Jasprit Bumrah, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh are the other pacers apart from Mayank.
According to reports, the BCCI selectors will meet with head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma to discuss the World Cup squad later this week.
The deadline for squad submission is May 1. The tournament kicks off June 2 in the Americas with India’s opening game on June 5 against Ireland.
Harbhajan Singh’s India squad for T20 World Cup 2024: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Yadav.
