Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar shared a heartfelt post after the team’s T20 World Cup triumph. Taking to social media platform X, Manjrekar credited captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Rahul Dravid, and chief selector Ajit Agarkar for the team’s success in the tournament as India ended a 13-year wait to win an ICC title. However, there was no mention of star batter Virat Kohli in Manjrekar’s post. Fans were quick to notice the same and blasted the cricketer-turned-commentator for ignoring Kohli, who was named ‘Man of the Match’ in the final against South Africa.

“Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid & Ajit Agarkar are your people with absolute integrity. So happy that they had something to show in the end! My heart goes out to them,” Manjrekar captioned the post.

Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid & Ajit Agarkar are your people with absolute integrity. So happy that they had something to show in the end! My heart goes out to them.

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) June 29, 2024

And not for the first time Indian bowlers won India the game. Take a bow Hardik, Axar, Arshdeep and thr one and only Jasprit Bumrah!

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) June 29, 2024

Here’s how the Internet reacted:

Such a bad behaviour from Sanjay Manjrekar. First he did not include Virat Kohli in his WC squad and now where the credit is due, he did not mention Virat’s name. What a hypocrite this person is. Virat Kohli was a legend, is a legged and will remain a legend @sanjaymanjrekar

— Sports syncs (@moiz_sports) June 29, 2024

Virat Kohli ??

— Nihal (@MOT_FNO) June 29, 2024

Kohli mention krde 1 tweet mein

— Tezas(gg) (@Tezas_14) June 29, 2024

Virat kohli ipl career is bigger than Sanjay’s whole career

— Barca galaxy (@barcagalaxyy) June 30, 2024

And thank Virat for carrying the team for over a decade

— Ankit Thakur (@ankitthakur8900) June 30, 2024

Soon after the final, Kohli announced his retirement from the T20I format, with Rohit also following the suit.

After managing just 75 runs in the first seven innings of the competition, Virat stepped up when it mattered the most, scoring 76 in 59 balls, with six fours and two sixes. His runs came at a strike rate of 128.81.

Virat has ended the ongoing edition with 151 runs in eight innings at an average of 18.87 and a strike rate of 112.68, with one fifty.

In 35 T20 World Cup matches, Virat has scored 1,292 runs at an average of 58.72 and a strike rate of 128.81, with 15 half-centuries. His best score is 89*. He is the highest run-scorer in the history of the tournament.

In 125 T20I matches, Virat scored 4,188 runs at an average of 48.69 and a strike rate of 137.04. He scored a century and 38 fifties and a best score of 122*. He ends the format as the second-highest run-getter of all time.

Rohit also ended the tournament with a career-best performance with the bat with 257 runs in eight games at an average of 36.71 and a strike rate of over 156. His best score was 92 and scored three half-centuries in the competition to become the second-highest run-getter.

Rohit retires as a double T20 WC champion, winning the title back in 2007 as a young up-and-coming prodigy. In 151 T20I matches, Rohit has scored 4,231 runs at an average of 32.05 with a strike rate of over 140. He scored five centuries and 32 fifties in his career, with the best score of 121*. Rohit is also the leading run-scorer in the format.

(With ANI Inputs)

With current India head coach Rahul Dravid‘s tenure set to end after the T20 World Cup, reports have claimed that former batter Gautam Gambhir is set to take over the high-pressure job. A few days back, it was reported that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had contacted Gambhir for the job, and the former opening batter gave the green light after the board accepted soe of his demands. Now, another report has claimed that Gambhir is the only candidate to have applied for the head coach job.

According to the Indian Express, Gambhir will appear for an interview before the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) over a Zoom call on Tuesday. This comes after the BCCI had invited applications for the post in mid-May and the deadline was May 27.

Gambhir is currently the mentor of KKR, who won the IPL 2024 title after beating SRH in the final on May 26, a day before the deadline to apply for the head coach job.

The report also claimed that the CAC, comprising of former cricketers Ashok Malhotra, Jatin Paranjpe and Sulakshana Naik, will also take interviews for the vacant selector’s spot from North Zone.

Currently, chief selection committee chief Ajit Agarkar and Salil Ankola are both from West Zone, with the new selector from North Zone set to replace the latter.

Ankola was already part of the selection committee when BCCI appointed Agarkar as the chief, replacing Chetan Sharma, who found himself in hot water over a sting operation controversy.

After conducting the interviews, the CAC will make recommendations to the BCCI over the head coach and the new selector’s post.

“We are conducting an interview session for candidates for the post of head coach and selector. The CAC will submit its recommendation to the BCCI and the board will make an official announcement thereafter,” the Indian Express quoted a BCCI official as saying.

The tenure of the new coach, which is most likely to Gambir, starts in July 2024 and stretches to December 31, 2027 – the year of the next ODI World Cup.

The 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will see the return of a major global cricket tournament to the West Indies after 14 years. The USA will also host World Cup games for the first time ever. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced India’s 15-man squad on April 30. Rohit Sharma will lead the side, while Hardik Pandya retained vice-captaincy despite a difficult IPL 2024 season. Rinku Singh, Shubman Gill and KL Rahul were the headline absentees. The T20 World Cup gets underway on June 2 as USA take on Canada. The final is on June 29, at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.

All 20 T20 World Cup Squads:

India (ICC T20I Rank-1):

Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj

Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan

Australia (ICC T20I Rank-2):

Mitchell Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

Reserves: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matthew Short

England (ICC T20I Rank-3):

Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, Mark Wood

West Indies (ICC T20I Rank-4):

Rovman Powell (c), Alzarri Joseph, Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Gudakesh Motie, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd

New Zealand (ICC T20I Rank-5):

Kane Williamson (c), Finn Allen, Trent Boult, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee. 

Reserve: Ben Sears

Pakistan (ICC T20I Rank-6):

Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan

South Africa (ICC T20I Rank-7):

Aiden Markram (c), Ottniel Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs

Sri Lanka (ICC T20I Rank-8):

Wanindu Hasaranga (c), Charith Asalanka, Kusal Mendis, Pathum Nissanka, Kamindu Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Dhananjaya De Silva, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Dushmantha Chameera, Nuwan Thushara, Matheesha Pathirana, Dilshan Madushanka

Reserves: Asitha Fernando, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Janith Liyanage

Bangladesh (ICC T20I Rank-9):

Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Taskin Ahmed, Litton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Shakib Al Hasan, Tawhid Hridoy, Mahmud Ullah Riyad, Jaker Ali Anik, Tanvir Islam, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib

Reserves: Afif Hossain, Hasan Mahmud

Afghanistan (ICC T20I Rank-10):

Rashid Khan (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Nangyal Kharoti, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik

Reserves: Sediq Atal, Hazratullah Zazai, Saleem Safi

Ireland (ICC T20I Rank-11):

Paul Stirling (c), Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Andrew Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, Neil Rock, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young

Namibia (ICC T20I Rank-13):

Gerhard Erasmus (c), Zane Green, Michael Van Lingen, Dylan Leicher, Ruben Trumpelmann, Jack Brassell, Ben Shikongo, Tangeni Lungameni, Niko Davin, JJ Smit, Jan Frylinck, JP Kotze, David Wiese, Bernard Scholtz, Malan Kruger, PD Blignaut

Scotland (ICC T20I Rank-14):

Richie Berrington (c), Matthew Cross, Brad Currie, Chris Greaves, Oli Hairs, Jack Jarvis, Michael Jones, Michael Leask, Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Chris Sole, Charlie Tear, Mark Watt, Brad Wheal

Netherlands (ICC T20I Rank-15): 

Scott Edwards (c), Aryan Dutt, Bas de Leede, Kyle Klein, Logan van Beek, Max O’Dowd, Michael Levitt, Paul van Meekeren, Ryan Klein, Saqib Zulfiqar, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Teja Nidamanuru, ⁠⁠Tim Pringle, Vikram Singh, Viv Kingma, Wesley Barresi

Reserve: Ryan Klein

Nepal (ICC T20I Rank-17):

Rohit Paudel (c), Aasif Sheikh, Anil Kumar Sah, Kushal Bhurtel, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Lalit Rajbanshi, Karan KC, Gulshan Jha, Sompal Kami, Pratis GC, Sundeep Jora, Abinash Bohara, Sagar Dhakal, Kamal Singh Airee

United States (ICC T20I Rank-18):

Monank Patel (c), Aaron Jones, Andries Gous, Corey Anderson, Ali Khan, Harmeet Singh, Jessy Singh, Milind Kumar, Nisarg Patel, Nitish Kumar, Noshtush Kenjige, Saurabh Nethralvakar, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Steven Taylor, Shayan Jahangir. Reserve Players: Gajanand Singh, Juanoy Drysdale, Yasir Mohammad

Oman (ICC T20I Rank-19):

Aqib Ilyas (c), Zeeshan Maqsood, Kashyap Prajapati, Pratik Athavale, Ayaan Khan, Shoaib Khan, Mohammad Nadeem, Naseem Khushi, Mehran Khan, Bilal Khan, Rafiullah, Kaleemullah, Fayyaz Butt, Shakeel Ahmad, Khalid Kail

Reserves: Jatinder Singh, Samay Shrivastava, Sufyan Mehmood, Jay Odedra

Papua New Guinea (ICC T20I Rank-20):

Assadollah Vala (c), Alei Nao, Chad Soper, CJ Amini, Hila Vare, Hiri Hiri, Jack Gardner, John Kariko, Kabua Vagi Morea, Kipling Doriga, Lega Siaka, Norman Vanua, Sema Kamea, Sese Bau, Tony Ura

Uganda (ICC T20I Rank-22):

Brian Masaba (c), Simon Ssesazi, Roger Mukasa, Cosmas Kyewuta, Dinesh Nakrani, Fred Achelam, Kenneth Waiswa, Alpesh Ramjani, Frank Nsubuga, Henry Ssenyondo, Bilal Hassun, Robinson Obuya, Riazat Ali Shah, Juma Miyaji, Ronak Patel

Reserves: Innocent Mwebaze, Ronald Lutaaya

Canada (ICC T20I Rank-23):

Saad Bin Zafar (c), Aaron Johnson, Ravinderpal Singh, Navneet Dhaliwal, Kaleem Sana, Dilon Heyliger, Jeremy Gordon, Nikhil Dutta, Pargat Singh, Nicholas Kirton, Rayyankhan Pathan, Junaid Siddiqui, Dilpreet Bajwa, Shreyas Movva, Rishiv Joshi. Reserves: Tajinder Singh, Aaditya Varadharajan, Ammar Khalid, Jatinder Matharu, Parveen Kumar

Ajit Agarkar and Rohit Sharma in press conference© AFP

There have been rumours of a possible rift between Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya ever since the latter was appointed captain of the Mumbai Indians (MI) ahead of IPL 2024. Hardik had replaced Rohit as MI captain after rejoining the franchise from Gujarat Titans (GT) during the trade window. However, it is safe to say that the move has backfired as MI are already out of the IPL 2024 playoffs contention. Also, Hardik’s performance this season has been mediocre to say the least.

In 13 games, he has scored 200 runs at a strike-rate of 144.93, while also taking 11 wickets in 13 matches at an economy of 10.59. Most of his good bowling performances have come in the latter half of the tournament.

However, Hardik was still picked by the selectors in the 15-man squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the Americas.

A report had recently claimed that neither Rohit nor the selection committee, led by former India pacer Ajit Agarkar, was in favour of selecting Hardik.

But, the report said that Hardik was picked in the team under ‘pressure’. The report did not mention whether it was a situational pressure (as he is India’s top fast bowling allrounder) or a pressure from some quarters. The report also attributed sources as saying that captain Rohit Sharma , BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar and some selectors were against Pandya’s selection in the T20 World Cup team, during the selection meeting in Ahmedabad.

The report, published by Dainik Jagran, also added that Rohit might retire from the T20 format after the World Cup.

However, the report also highlighted that Hardik’s place in the playing XI is not a surity. And even if he plays, he might not feature in all of the games.

When Rohit and Agarkar attended the press conference after the T20 World Cup squad selection, the chief selector was asked about the inclusion of Hardik in the roster despite his poor form. In response, Agarkar explained how the selection committee didn’t have a choice as there’s no like-for-like replacement for Hardik available from the talent pool that exists.

India will play three of their four Group A matches in New York including the highly-anticipated clash with Pakistan on June 9. Their fourth fixture is slated to be held in Florida, against Canada on June 15.

Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan are seen during a practice session. File
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

The exclusion of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer from the list of centrally-contracted players was a decision that was solely taken by chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar, BCCI secretary Jay Shah has revealed, asserting that “nobody is indispensable”.

Kishan and Iyer were left out after failing to show up for domestic engagements despite a directive from the BCCI. While Kishan went on a long break after the end of the ODI World Cup last year and remained unavailable until the IPL, Iyer eventually did feature in a few matches for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy including the semifinal and the final.

However, Iyer still found himself at the receiving end after it emerged that he had attended a Kolkata Knight Riders’ camp in Mumbai when his domestic side was busy playing a Ranji Trophy fixture.

“You can check the constitution. I am just a convener (of the selection meeting),” he said during a media interaction at the BCCI head office in Mumbai on May 9.

“That decision lies with Ajit Agarkar, even when these two players (Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer) who did not play domestic (cricket), the decision to drop them (from the central contracts list) was only his.

“My role is just to implement. And we have got new players (in place), like Sanju (Samson). Nobody is indispensable,” he added.

Shah reiterated the Board’s position that Indian players will have to prioritise domestic cricket.

In the days leading up to the contract snub, Shah had stated before the third Test between India and England in February this year that he would completely back the chief selector’s decision for any action on players who do not comply with the Indian captain and team management’s requirement for participation in domestic cricket.

Shah said he spoke with the players after their exclusion.

“Yes, I had spoken with them. Media had even carried the reports,” he said.

“Even Hardik (Pandya) said if BCCI is considering me for white-ball, then I am ready to play Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Any player will have to play, even if they do not want to, they will have to,” Shah continued.

Talking about high scores in this year’s IPL, Shah said ultimately, it comes down to who is playing well and who, as a player, can sustain performance.

“Whoever plays well in the IPL… like say Ishan Kishan, he finds it difficult to take part with the Indian team but he can play in Mumbai Indians as a player. There he can play in a relaxed manner.

“In Team India, you have to prove yourself, give back to back performances. The one who can handle that can be described as a right player,” he added.

Shah also revealed details of his conversation with Kishan, which took place after Mumbai Indians’ match against Gujarat Titans.

“No, I did not advise him anything. It was just a friendly talk that he should do well and I speak with all players like that,” he said.

While there have been a few media reports mentioning an increase in the match fees for domestic players in the country, Shah said there is no such plan.

“We have increased the pay anyway and also incentivised Test cricket. We had increased the pay by 100 per cent in 2022,” Shah added.

Indian cricket team skipper Rohit Sharma© X (formerly Twitter)