T20 World Cup 2024: No Hardik, Pant or Samson in Ambati Rayudu's India Squad for World Cup

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Former India player Ambati Rayudu has picked up his 15-man India squad for the T20 World Cup 2024 and it has some notable exclusions as Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant don't feature in his team.

Rishabh Pant, who has set ablaze the IPL 2024 following his return to cricket after a long injury lay-off, won't be in the Indian team as per Rayudu. Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya is also not on the list while Rayudu has also left out Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson.

Rayudu has instead picked up RCB veteran Dinesh Karthik in his team. Karthik is in excellent form in this IPL season and has shown his batting prowess as a finisher. The 38-year-old recently spoke about dream of playing for India for the last time but also showed faith in Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma regarding the decisions.

Rayudu has also picked Yashasvi Jaiswal, who roared back to form with a stellar century against Mumbai Indians. Another Rajasthan Royals star Riyan Parag also makes it, and so are CSK star Shivam Dube and KKR's adored boy Rinku Singh.

In terms of spinners, Rayudu has picked Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. The Kul-Cha of Indian cricket are in excellent form this season and the duo can be a lethal weapon for Team India in the T20 World Cup. Chahal recently became the first player with 200 IPL Wickets and has made a strong case for himself.

Jasprit Bumrah will spearhead the pace attack and Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj are also included. Although Siraj is having an underwhelming season with RCB, Rayudu has kept faith in him. The surprise addition has been LSG pacer Mayank Yadav, who showed promises early on in the IPL season but hasn't featured in the last few matches due to an injury.

T20 World Cup 2024: Ambati Rayudu's India Squad

Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Riyan Parag, Rinku Singh, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Yadav

Ambati Rayudu India Squad - Talking Points

• Mayank Yadav's inclusion seems premature as the LSG pacer is unlikely to be part of the India squad.
• With just one wicketkeeper, it just doesn't seem right. Dinesh Karthik doesn't warrant a start in the Indian team. Hence going with just a solitary keeper is baffling.
• Harshal Patel is having an excellent IPL 2024 and is surely ahead of the pecking order if we consider IPL 2024 as the benchmark.