'Lack of Opportunities, IPL Form': India Legend Points Out Reasons Behind Rinku Singh's Exclusion From World Cup Squad

Rinku Singh not finding a place in the 15-man India squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup left former allrounder Irfan Pathan and ex-Australia skipper Aaron Finch surprised but the legendary Sunil Gavaskar attributed it to the left-handed batter’s form in the ongoing IPL.

Also Read: Complete List of T20 World Cup 2024 Squads

The BCCI on Tuesday announced the Indian team for the T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies in June, keeping the hard-hitting middle-order batter, who has played 15 T20Is, in the reserves, along with Shubman Gill, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.

India Squad for T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Hardik Pandya (Vice Captain), 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

Complete List of T20 World Cup 2024 Squads

Pathan was one of the the most vocal former players after the announcement, opining on X (formerly Twitter) that “Rinku’s recent past performance for Team India shouldn’t have been ignored.”

Former Australia white-ball skipper Finch said he was “surprised” by the BCCI selectors picking four spinners in the side and not Rinku.

“I was surprised by the four spinners. I had Rinku in there and only two spinners,” said Finch on Star Sports.

West Indian great Ian Bishop too expressed his surprise at Rinku’s exclusion, saying, “So, if you’re talking about surprises, I think Rinku Singh has done enough in international cricket. He averages well over 60 or 70 in T20Is to hold a place in the 15.

“So, that’s the only thing that had my ears sticking up. So I’m only saying that the extra spinner, someone like Axar (Patel), has been preferred to Rinku,” Bishop added.

Gavaskar, though, felt that the KKR star’s form in the ongoing IPL had to do with him not being included in the main squad.

“Maybe his form in this particular edition of the IPL hasn’t been great. He hasn’t had that many opportunities, maybe that’s the reason why they’ve (selectors) not picked him,” Gavaskar told Sports Today.

(With inputs from Agencies)