Virender Sehwag names his India XI for T20 World Cup; Snubs Hardik Pandya

Virender Sehwag was part of India’s T20 World Cup-winning campaign in 2007.

Virender Sehwag, the legendary India opener, has unveiled his choice of India’s playing XI for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024. However, in a surprising move, he has snubbed white-ball vice-captain and all-rounder Hardik Pandya from the list.

Ajit Agarkar’s selection committee may struggle to assemble a strong team because a few of the players have shown their mettle in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) while a few more established players have fallen short of expectations.

Virender Sehwag made his selections for the Indian team for the T20 World Cup 2024 in a similar manner. Although Sehwag did not specify an order for his selections, the inclusion of Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal in the team indicated that these two would probably start the innings for India.

Virat Kohli has been slated to bat at number three. Suryakumar Yadav was Virender Sehwag’s choice to bat at No.4 and Yadav was followed by Rishabh Pant. Sehwag picked Pant as keeper for India over the likes of Sanju Samson and Dinesh Karthik.

No Hardik Pandya, Virender Sehwag punts on Shivam Dube

While most of his squad was on predicted lines, there were a couple of surprises. He did not include Hardik Pandya and Sanju Samson in his squad. Speaking on Club Prairie Podcast alongside Adam Gilchrist, Sehwag instead opted between Shivam Dube or Rinku Singh as the lower middle order batter.

The daring batter explained that although he did not include Hardik Pandya in his playing XI, he may be included in the 15-man roster that India will select in the latter part of April. Since his high-profile switch to MI, Pandya’s performance in the IPL has been lacking both at bat and with the ball.

Therefore, Sehwag decided to go with Shivam Dube rather than Pandya and added some firepower to the Indian side later in the order.

The IPL 2024 has been lit by Shivam Dube, who amassed over 300 runs for CSK at a blistering strike rate. Rinku has been a dependable performer for India, but so far in the IPL 2024, he hasn’t got many opportunities.

Mohammed Siraj, Sandeep Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah comprised the fast bowling attack, while Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav were Sehwag’s two spinners.

Virender Sehwag’s Playing XI for T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Rinku Singh or Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Sandeep Sharma.

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