The national selection committee took a surprising call by selecting four spinners in the 15-man Indian team for the forthcoming T20 World Cup in the United States and the Caribbean.
The rationale for this selection apparently was raised by the skipper Rohit Sharma. Four spinners selected are Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, who are both left-hand orthodox spin-bowlers and Kuldeep Yadav, a left-arm wrist bowler, and Yuzvendra Chahal, a leg-spinner.
This selection caused head-scratching among cricket followers because most pitches in the United States and the Caribbean generally lend themselves to pace bowling. But the squad consists of only three pacers: Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, and Mohammed Siraj, and is likely to be joined by Hardik Pandya as the fourth pacer.
Rohit Sharma hinted at a technical strategy behind the selection of four spinners but refused to disclose it too soon. He cited the omission of off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin from the T20 format and the consistent performance of Axar Patel as factors behind their decision-making process.
In the case of Hardik Pandya, in spite of the fact that he was in a poor form in the current IPL season, the selectors cited his return from a gap and his regular presence for Mumbai Indians during the IPL 2024. Fitness, and not form, was the primary criterion for the selection of both Pandya and Rishabh Pant, who has been in impressive form since his return to the IPL after a long period of inactivity following an injury.
Read also | Irfan Pathan Raises Concerns Over Pandya's Performance and Commitment to Indian Cricket
