Ajit Agarkar to announce India's T20 World Cup squad after meeting Rohit Sharma post DC vs MI match in Delhi: Report

The date for the much-anticipated announcement of India's 15-member squad for the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup has been more or less set, with BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar set to meet India captain Rohit Sharma in and around the IPL 2024 match between Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians in New Delhi next Saturday. The cut-off date for the announcement of the World Cup squad, as set by the International Cricket Council (ICC), is May 1.

According to a report in Dainik Jagran, Agarkar, Rohit and the remainder of the selection committee are all set to brainstorm on India's 15-member squad for the World Cup when they meet in Delhi during the DC-MI game, which will be played on April 27 at Arun Jaitley Stadium. Rohit will be present in Delhi then and Agarkar, currently on a holiday in Spain, is likely to reach the capital city on April 27 or 28.

Among the many selection headaches that the committee will need to answer are - who will Virat Kohli open for India, who will accompany Jasprit Bumrah in the pace department, will Yuzvendra Chahal make the squad, who will be the wicketkeeping options and whether Hardik Pandya will find a spot amid his poor run of form in the ongoing IPL 2024.

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The report mentions that besides captain Rohit, the other certainties to travel to the USA for the World Cup include Suryakumar Yadav, Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav. Hardik's inclusion will only depend on his performance for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024. In seven matches so far, the Mumbai Indians captain has only scored 141 runs at 23.50, while picking 4 wickets across 15 overs he bowled in seven matches.

Heading into the IPL 2024 season, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal were in a battle to seal the spot for the primary opening option, but with Kohli being backed for the role to partner Rohit in the World Cup at the top of the order, it remains to be seen which of the two young batters will be unfortunate to miss. If the selectors do pick both players, then fitting the choice will be down to fitting one between Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh in the squad, who have both been exceptional down the order with their six-hitting prowess.

India will begin their World Cup campaign in June 5 against Ireland at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. The members clubbed with India in Group A are Pakistan, Canada and co-hosts USA.