Pant hasn’t played a T20I since his car accident in December 2022, and has worked his way back into the squad through his performances in IPL 2024. His 398 runs in 11 innings have come at a strike rate of 158.56. Over the course of the season, he has also allayed any doubts there may have been over his wicketkeeping.
This is Samson’s first selection in a World Cup squad, after he missed out to Dinesh Karthik in 2022. Like Pant, Samson has been in prolific form as captain of Rajasthan Royals, who are on top of the IPL 2024 league table with eight wins in nine games. He has scored 385 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 161.08 so far. The inclusion of Pant and Samson left no room for KL Rahul or Jitesh Sharma. While Rahul has not played a T20I since the previous World Cup, Jitesh had been part of India’s recent T20I squads, but he’s been in poor form this IPL.
That series also marked an international return for Dube, who top-scored with 124 runs in three innings. His ability to take down spin in the middle overs for Chennai Super Kings over the past two IPL seasons, and his improvement against fast bowling in 2024, made him a compelling selection. Dube’s inclusion meant Rinku, India’s designated T20I finisher over the last eight months, couldn’t make the 15.
Chahal also played his most recent T20I eight months ago and will be featuring in his first T20 World Cup, having missed out in 2021 to Rahul Chahar and in 2022 to R Ashwin. He has so far picked up 13 wickets in nine games in IPL 2024, with an economy of 9.00 despite bowling in the death overs.
India begin their World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5 in New York, and then play Pakistan, USA and Canada on June 9, 12 and 15.
India squad for 2024 T20 World Cup
Rohit Sharma (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Reserve players: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan