T20 World Cup 2024: Hardik Out, Chahal In? The Strongest Playing XI for India in T20 WC

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India's T20 World Cup has been announced on Tuesday (April 30) as BCCI named a 15-man squad for the team for the upcoming ICC tournament.

The T20 WC 2024 starts in West Indies and USA from June 1. India are part of Group A alongside archrivals Pakistan. The other three teams are Ireland, USA and Canada.

Team India will be led by Rohit Sharma, while the likes of Hardik Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal also made the team. India have picked up four spinners and three pacers in the squad, while picking Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube as part-time pacers.

India Squad for T20 WC 2024

Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

Travelling Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan

As the squad is now picked, let's concentrate on what will be the strongest lineup for the team in the World Cup. West Indies and USA at this time of the year will be comparatively warm and the pitch conditions are definitely unknown.

The Indian think tank will be contemplating on their options, which are actually many if we take a look at.

The Top Three

The top three for India looks like sealed. There shouldn't be any doubt that captain Rohit Sharma will open the batting alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal - both destructive batters and given the left-right combination, it is a fantastic pair. At no. 3, it will be Virat Kohli. The form of the Indian stalwart is quite sublime and Kohli is the perfect player to bat at the position.

The Middle Order

There are a few middle order options for India. Suryakumar Yadav is the likely batter to come after Kohli, while it has to be either Pant or Sanju Samson at no. 5. Although Pant has been a mainstay at Indian team, we reckon Samson can get the nod ahead.

The question for India now remains who their no. 6 in the order can be, and there is a conundrum between Hardik and Shivam Dube. But India will go with Hardik Pandya, which was evident as the all-rounder was made vice-captain of the team.

The Lower Middle Order and Bowlers

India must go with Axar Patel ahead of Ravindra Jadeja as Axar is a better bowler and a much superior batter than Jadeja in the T20 format.

The Final four positions will be about the bowlers, where the combination can be a 2-2 or a 3-1 formation for pacers-spinners.

India have both Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal in their tank but the former looks to be the first choice if they are to play a solitary frontline spinner. In terms of pacers, they have only three pacers as Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj may feature altogether. But if they go with two spinners, we may see Bumrah and Arshdeep getting the first team opportunity.

India Strongest Playing XI for T20 World Cup 2024

Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah