Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar had recently claimed that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) star Rinku Singh‘s selection in the squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup should be a no-brainer for the selectors. With the southpaw not getting opportunities to bat, Manjrekar hoped that the selectors won’t forget Rinku and pick him in the 15-man probables. Contradictory to his claims, Manjrekar has now dropped Rinku from his own T20 World Cup squad. The 58-year-old had made another shocking call to leave Virat Kohli out his 15-man T20 World Cup squad.
“Because he’s not getting many opportunities, I hope selectors won’t forget about Rinku Singh. He’s a straight walk-in into the Indian team. Every time he has got the opportunity, you’ve seen how good he can be, in the sense of his consistency and the range that he has. He’s somebody who I like, apart from the core of the Indian team, apart from the big names we are thinking about,” Manjrekar had told Firstpost.
Rinku made his India debut in a T20I against Ireland in 2023. So far, he has scored 356 runs in 15 T20Is with a strike rate of 176.23. The left-handed batsman has been a revelation for Team India, as far as his finishing is concerned.
Even in the ongoing season of IPL, Rinku has managed to give KKR an extra push with his batting in death overs despite not facing many deliveries.
As far as Manjrekar’s T20 World Cup team is concerned, he picked four frontline batters in Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav.
In the wicketkeeping department, he chose Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson.
Among all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Krunal Pandya were the only picks in Manjrekar’s 15, with there being no place for pace-bowling all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube.
Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal were the two picks from the perspective of pure spinners while Jasprit Bumrah, Avesh Khan and Mohammed Siraj made the cut as marquee pacers.
Uncapped pacer Mayank Yadav and Harshit Rana also made the cut in Manjrekar’s 15.
Sanjay Manjrekar’s squad for T20 WC 2024: 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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