All eyes are on BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar as the deadline for selecting India’s T20 World Cup 2024 squad draws near. The 15-man Rohit Sharma-led team is anticipated to be revealed in the first week of May.

Former India cricketer Ambati Rayudu has revealed his picks for the India squad for the T20 World Cup on Star Sports which will be played in June this year. The tournament will be hosted jointly by the USA and the West Indies. This will be the second time for the West Indies to host this tournament after 2010 and USA will be hosting any ICC cricketing event for the first time.

The batting unit picked by Ambati Rayudu holds no surprises as Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, and Rinku Singh have been as expected by the ex-cricketer. However, Rayudu has picked young Riyan Parag for his explosive batting in the ongoing IPL.

Also surprisingly, Rayudu picked Shivam Dube over Hardik Pandya for the pace-bowling all-rounder role. This was a huge blow to the all-rounder, the vice-captain of the Indian white-ball squads for the last two years.

Ambati Rayudu makes his pick for wicketkeeper in India’s T20 World Cup squad

The biggest talking topic in the 2024 India Premier League (IPL) is the wicket-keeper position, which is still up for grabs despite the lack of competition for the other places. Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, Jitesh Sharma, KL Rahul, and Dinesh Karthik are the five keepers in the running.

Ishan Kishan appeared to be a lock for the place, but there is some doubt about it now that he has been removed from the BCCI central contract. After Jitesh Sharma and Sanju Samson failed to make an impression during the Afghanistan series, the Indian Premier League became a free-for-all.

Dinesh Karthik was a surprising selection, but Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson stood out because of their solid play in the first few games of the 2024 IPL.

And Ambati Rayudu has picked Dinesh Karthik for the keeper’s role even though the veteran player will be 39 years old when the T20 World Cup starts.

As for the bowling, Rayudu picked Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Yuzvendra Chahal in the spin department. In the choices of pacers, Rayudu picked Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, and the surprise name of Mayank Yadav.

Here is Ambati Rayudu’s India squad for the T20 World Cup:

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Dinesh Karthik, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh and Mayank Yadav.