Hardik Pandya’s Place in T20 World Cup XI in Doubt, Here’s What Chief Selector Says

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Original Content: Hardik Pandya’s Place in T20 World Cup XI in Doubt, Here’s What Chief Selector Says

The Indian cricket team has announced its 15-member squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, to be hosted by the USA and West Indies in June.

In the days following the squad announcement, Indian captain Rohit Sharma and chief selector Ajit Agarkar convened a press conference.

However, one decision that raised eyebrows was the selection of Hardik Pandya as vice-captain, given his recent poor performance in both batting and bowling.

Earlier, there were also reports that the BCCI was considering Rishabh Pant for the vice-captaincy, with talks of removing Hardik Pandya from the role due to his poor performance, including his captaincy for the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024.

Speaking on this, here’s what chief selector Ajit Agarkar said:

“There has been no talks about the vice captaincy – what Hardik brings as a cricketer, it’s tough to replace – he gives lots of options to the captain as well and he is just coming back after a long break.”

Hardik Pandya will be eager to prove himself in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024, especially after a disappointing IPL 2024 season where he has struggled in both finishing matches and bowling.

Hardik Pandya has scored 197 runs in the 10 matches he has played for Mumbai Indians so far, while also taking just six wickets in eight innings, with an economy rate of 11.

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

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