India on Monday (September 12) announced their 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022, with pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel making a return after recovering from their respective injuries.
The squad, however, didn’t feature all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who recently underwent a knee surgery.
Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are the other two specialist pacers in the squad, along with the all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Deepak Hooda. On the other hand, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Akshar Patel are the premier spinners in the line-up.
The batting line-up is along expected lines with skipper Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, and Dinesh Karthik all included.
However, there was a notable omission that caught everyone’s attention as swashbuckling batter Sanju Samson failed to make the cut despite impressing one and all with his T20I performances this year.
Samson has played six T20Is for India in 2022, scoring 179 runs at an impressive average of 44.75 and an exceptional strike rate of 158.40 with one half-century. Moreover, he led Rajasthan Royals to the IPL final this season.
In spite of such exploits, Samson was reportedly not even in contention for the T20 World Cup squad.
"Sanju in any case will be playing the ODIs against South Africa as selectors will maintain the continuity from the Zimbabwe tour. Also there was never any discussions on dropping Pant. He is the only left-hander we have at the top and he can win a match on his day," a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Sanju Samson wasn’t even picked in the list of reserved players as the selectors kept Mohammad Shami and Deepak Chahar, middle order batter Shreyas Iyer, and leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi on standby.
India will begin their T20 World Cup 2022 campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan at Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 23.
India’s squad for T20 World Cup 2022: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, R Pant (WK), Dinesh Karthik (WK), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Akshar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, B Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh
Standby Players: Mohammad Shami, Deepak Chahar, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi
