Over the next two days, BCCI is all set to make the much-awaited revelation on who made the cut in India's 15-member squad for the ICC T20 World Cup. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar reportedly met India captain Rohit Sharma in New Delhi on Sunday on the sidelines of the ongoing IPL 2024 tournament. Agarkar will now head down to Mumbai, where he will discuss with the remaining members of the selection committee, keeping in mind the preferences made by Rohit, before revealing the squad on May 1, which is the deadline date for the announcement, as set by the International Cricket Council.
Ahead of the big announcement, we look at how India's T20 World Cup hopefuls, including the fringe options and those who created a fresh buzz throughout the tournament.
Who's leading the race to be India's opener?
India have a log-jam of options as openers, with Orange Cap holder Virat Kohli, the leading run-getter among Indian players in the powerplay. Of the total 500 runs he amassed in IPL 2024, 244 came against the new ball at a strike rate of 154.43. While Kohli was never an opening option for the T20 World Cup, his exploits in the batting position for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2024 have sparked a discussion on the possibility, with few too many veterans backing the idea. Yet, Kohli hasn't been among the most aggressive options in the powerplay this season.
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Comparing the boundary rate and runs per over in the powerplay, Sunrisers Hyderabad star Abhishek Sharma has been the most potent option. He has been scoring at a breathtaking rate of 14 runs per over, which comprises a boundary every 2.5 balls. However, India are unlikely to make that knee-jerk reaction and call the youngster for the World Cup, who is yet to make his international debut.
{{/usCountry}}Comparing the boundary rate and runs per over in the powerplay, Sunrisers Hyderabad star Abhishek Sharma has been the most potent option. He has been scoring at a breathtaking rate of 14 runs per over, which comprises a boundary every 2.5 balls. However, India are unlikely to make that knee-jerk reaction and call the youngster for the World Cup, who is yet to make his international debut.
{{/usCountry}}India's best batsman in the powerplay among the known contenders has been the skipper himself, who has scored at a tick over 10 runs per over in the powerplay, where he amassed 194 runs, with a boundary every 3.4 balls. The next best batter has been the least discussed option - Ishan Kishan, who has recorded almost similar numbers as his Mumbai Indians teammate - almost 10 runs per over against the new balls with a boundary rate of 3.4.
What also makes Ishan a standout option has been his ability to take risk even with a prolonged stay at the crease, determined by balls per dismissal in the powerplay. Even Yashasvi Jaiswal has been a better option in that regard, with the Rajasthan Royals opener bearing a scoring rate of nine, while getting a boundary every 3.6 balls.
A look at middle-order options
Suryakumar Yadav has flown under the radar in the discussions around the T20 Word Cup side, but in the six innings he played for MI after missing the start of the season owing to an injury recovery, he has been the best Indian batter in the middle overs (7 to 16) among 40 options who have at least faced 30 deliveries during that phase.
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Suryakumar's ability to get boundaries and keep the scoreboard moving with strike rotation has been the best this season. Meanwhile, when looking at the two top wicketkeeping options in Rishabh Pant and Sanu Samson, both have a nearly similar boundary percentage, but the RR captain has been better at strike rotation than his Delhi Capitals counterpart. On the other hand, a player like Shivam Dube, who has the second-best scoring rate in this phase, believes more in finding the boundary rope than taking singles.
Spin hitter and death-over pace slogger
Among 20 Indian batters in this IPL, who have at least faced 30 deliveries of spin in the middle overs, Hardik Pandya has dished out the best performance against the variety, although the number has been purely down to his knock against Delhi Capitals, where he clobbered 31 runs against spinners off the 46 runs he scored, in just 14 balls. Dube, on the other hand, has been far more consistent with his show against the tweakers, scoring at close to 11 runs per over with a boundary almost every four balls, followed by Samson. Meanwhile, the likes of Pant, Shubman Gill and Kohli have been far more conservative against spinners.
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Among those in contention for the finishing role, Pant has been the best hitter against pace bowlers in the death overs (17 to 20), with an exceptional scoring rate of well over 15 and a boundary rate of just 2.3. He is followed by Dinesh Karthik, Rinku Singh, who has been devoid of proper game time this season, and Dube.
Where are the all-rounders?
India's biggest concern through the course of IPL 2024 has been the lack of proper all-rounder options. With the Impact Player rule nullifying the use of all-rounders like Dube and Washington Sundar, a concern which was even raised by India captain Rohit, has left the selectors with only a handful of performances to look at, which includes Hardik, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja.
While Hardik has lacked a competitor, Axar has been better of the spin all-rounders with a strike rate of 135 and an economy rate of 7.4 in picking seven wickets, compared to Jadeja, who has scored at a strike rate of 132 and picked only five wickets.
Who will accompany Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah?
Bumrah has been exceptional with the new ball this season, showing the ability to pick wickets in the powerplay and conceding fewer boundaries. Batters have scored at less than a run-a-ball rate against the MI star while taking seven deliveries to score a boundary against him - the best by a bowler in IPL 2024 (minimum 30 balls). His performance is followed by T Natarajan, Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh. However, this list doesn't include Sandeep Sharma, who has bowled only four overs this season, with a strike rate of just eight in the powerplay and a boundary-conceding rate of 12.
In the death overs, the bowler coming closest to Bumrah's exploits is Yuzvendra Chahal, against whom, batters have taken eight balls to score a boundary, followed by Sandeep.
Chahal has been impressive in the middle overs as well, picking 11 wickets, the joint-most by a bowler, alongside Kuldeep, although his economy rate has been slightly on the higher side. Meanwhile, Axar has put on a notable show as well, with seven wickets in this phase at just over seven runs per over, along with Sandeep, who has been the most economical fast bowler from India in the middle overs.