Royal Challengers Bengaluru player Virat Kohli at a warm-up session before the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 cricket match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad, at M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, Monday, April 15, 2024. (PTI Photo)
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar recently named his 15-member Indian team for the T20 World Cup, which had more than a few surprises.
The Mumbai cricket stalwart who is now an analyst chose to leave out talismanic Virat Kohli from the list. He also omitted Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube from his side to travel to the USA and Caribbean in June.
What was also surprising is that his 15-member side had three wicketkeepers: Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Sanju Samson.
Other former cricketers like Irfan Pathan and Virender Sehwag have also shared their preferred 15-member teams for the T20 World Cup.
Here’s The Indian Express’ T20 World Cup Ladder
Manjrekar chose skipper Rohit Sharma to partner young gun Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top of the batting order with Samson and Suryakumar Yadav following them.
Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya during the IPL 2024 cricket match against Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. (PTI Photo)
The former Mumbai batter then named all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Krunal Pandya in his 15, leaving out Krunal’s brother, Hardik Pandya. He also omitted Shivam Dube. Hardik has so far endured a brutal season as the captain of the Mumbai Indians, where he has repeatedly been jeered by fans in the stadium and trolled online.
Meanwhile, Manjrekar also picked Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal as spinners while Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj made the cut as pacers.
REVEALED: @sanjaymanjrekar‘s Fab 15 squad for the #T20WorldCup2024! 😲
A few interesting names get his nod for the #VisaToWorldCup, but 1 MAJOR name misses out! Do you agree with his choices for #T20WorldCupOnStar?
Participate in the biggest opinion poll ever on our social… pic.twitter.com/nvHABDyLzi
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) April 26, 2024
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“This is very difficult to pick, because there are too many quality players in the country at the moment. Especially after the IPL, you get too many options. But let me make an effort,” Manjrekar says on a special show on Star Sports before naming his 15 and explaining his rationale for the picks.
Here’s Manjrekar’s 15-member India team to play at the World T20:
Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Avesh Khan, Harshit Rana, Mayank Yadav, Krunal Pandya
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First uploaded on: 26-04-2024 at 15:31 IST
