No Kohli, Rinku, Shivam Dube; Krunal Pandya Surprise Pick in Sanjay Manjrekar’s Final 15 for T20 World Cup

The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee is about to pick the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup 2024, scheduled to take place in the West Indies and the US. But the predictions over the 15 names likely to board the flight to the West have already begun filtering in. While 5-6 players pick themselves, discussions surge on other spots which are limited but the contenders are too many.

Joining the bandwagon, former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has picked his ‘Fab 15’ squad for the showpiece event and surprisingly, left out Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya.

In a video shared by Star Sports on X, Manjrekar chooses Yashasvi Jasiwal as captain Rohit Sharma’s opening partner and Sanju Samson as No.3. T20 specialist Suryakumar Yadav comes next, followed by two wicketkeepers in Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul.

While Ravindra Jadeja remains the only all-rounder, the spin twins – Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal – have also found spots in Manjrekar’s 15. Jasprit Bumrah leads the pace bowling department which comprises Mohammed Siraj, Avesh Khan and a couple of uncapped fast bowlers, Harshit Rana and Mayank Yadav.

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As a backup spinner, Manjrekar named Krunal Pandya who last played for India in 2021 in Sri Lanka.

The debate over Virat Kohli

The former India captain has been in decent form lately, holding the Orange Cap in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. He has accumulated 430 runs in 9 games, including a century and 3 fifties. However, his strike-rate has been one of the major talking points this season.

The latest instance was RCB’s fixture against the Sunrisers in Hyderabad on Thursday night where Kohli scored a 43-ball 51 with the help of 4 fours and a boundary. raced to 32 off his first 18 balls, slowing down dramatically to get 19 off his next 25 balls. As Kohli lost his pace of scoring runs and didn’t score a boundary for nine overs.

Legendary Sunil Gavaskar, who was in the commentary box, said Kohli has to push himself for big shots and take his chances.

“That’s the approach [taking chances] RCB now need. Yes, Kohli has played and missed; it’s not easy, because when you’ve been in your shell, you’ve just been working the ones, and suddenly connecting is not going to be easy. But that is what Kohli needs to do; needs to attempt. He has got to attempt the big shots no,” Gavaskar said on-air.