BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar and Captain Rohit Sharma attended a press conference at the BCCI headquarters to answer queries about the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup 2024. The tournament will be played in June and co-hosted by the USA and the West Indies.
BCCI announced the 15-man India squad and 4 traveling reserves on May 1, adhering to the ICC deadline for naming the roster. While the squad was mostly as expected, the missing name of batter Rinku Singh caused quite a lot of commotion on social media.
Many former cricketers and experts along with the cricket fans were not happy with Rinku Singh being left out of the Indian squad.
Rinku Singh has an impressive record for India in T20Is, amassing 359 runs at an average of 89 in 15 matches at a stunning rate of 176. But in his place, the BCCI selectors decided to bring in Yuzvendra Chahal to partner Kuldeep Yadav in the wrist-spin department.
Speaking on the same issue, BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar said that it was not Rinku Singh’s fault that he missed out on the main squad, but he couldn’t be fit in the final 15 due to combination issues.
“Probably the toughest thing we have had to do. He has done nothing wrong, nor has Shubman Gill. It's again the combinations. Like Rohit said, we are not sure about what conditions we will get. We have tried to have enough options. There are a couple of wrist spinners, Chahal and Kuldeep to give, Rohit more options.
It's just unfortunate. I don't think it has anything to do with Rinku Singh. It's not his fault that he has missed out. It's more the 15 that we felt gives with two keepers who are already terrific batters. So we just thought having another bowling option would be handy. He is still one of the traveling subs. That's how close he was. It's a little bit tough on him. At the end of the day, you only pick 15,” Agarkar said in the BCCI presser.
Rohit Sharma admitted that he had asked for four proper spinners in the Indian squad, but refrained from revealing the reason for doing so.
“I definitely wanted four spinners. The match started at 10:30 am in the morning. There's a bit of technicality behind that. I am not going to say the reason in public because other captains will be listening,” Rohit said.
In the ongoing IPL 2024 season, Rinku has batted eight times, scoring 123 runs at a strike rate of 150 and an average of 20.50.
