Chairman of national selection committee Ajit Agarkar and skipper Rohit Sharma are expected to have an informal meeting in the national capital on a possible 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup in the Americas. The formal announcement might happen in Mumbai on May 1, the cut-off date for the ICC event.
It is understood that Agarkar specially flew into Delhi for Saturday’s IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals as he would also get a chance to chat with skipper Rohit and get further clarity before he sits with his colleagues to pick the final team.
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There are a couple of slots which will be up for discussion as most of the team picks itself. There won’t be many surprises and the only thing that the selection committee and team management need to be convinced about is Hardik Pandya’s bowling fitness.
If Hardik is slotted in the 15, then only one among Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh can be accommodated while it seems that KL Rahul, one of the favourites of the current coaching dispensation headed by Rahul Dravid, has left his nearest competitor Sanju Samson far behind.
There is very little possibility of a left-field selection and one option could be Mumbai Indians batter Tilak Varma, who is a flamboyant southpaw and can also bowl handy off-spin in case the opposition has more left-handers.
However, it can’t be ascertained how much the possibility of that happening as Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi are fighting for the third spinner’s slot.
Yuzvendra Chahal, the country’s most skillful white ball wrist spinner, is reportedly not a priority choice for an influential member of the coaching staff, who has a lot of say in selection matters.
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