Rinku Singh denied T20 World Cup berth, Siraj loses race to Sandeep Sharma, Mayank Yadav in India squad of Brian Lara

Former West Indies cricketer Brian Lara has been the latest addition to bandwagon of veteran cricketers and experts announcing their probable India squad for the impending T20 World Cup, which is slated to be held in the USA and the West Indies starting June 1. India, in Group A of the tournament, will play their opener on June 5 against Ireland.

May 1 has been assigned as the deadline day by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to announce the World Cup squads by each of the teams. New Zealand became the first of the lot as they named a Kane Williamson-led side on Monday morning. But BCCI is most likely to reveal the 15-member team on Wednesday. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar has reportedly had an informal meeting with India captain Rohit Sharma over the probable squad. He is now set to sit with his selection committee colleagues before making the final announcement.

Ahead of the big call, Lara revealed his preferred squad for India which does include a few too many surprises. His squad likely hints at Yashasvi Jaiswal as Rohit's opening partner as he earlier advised India against picking Virat Kohli as an opener.

Earlier this month, in conversation with Star Sports, Lara had said: “For me, they are great players (Rohit and Virat), I think though that you should have some youthful punch in the opening spot. One of the younger players, showing their mettle, showing what they are capable of and have one of those experienced players shepherd the innings in the middle order right through till the end. Having that experience up front, it could have a negative effect if they get dismissed early, so I will use one yes, but use the other at No. 3.”

One of the first notable selection call by Lara includes the two wicketkeeping spots. While Rishabh Pant seems as the first-choice option, he went with Sanju Samson as his backup keeper, thus ignoring KL Rahul. The call comes amid reports claiming that Samson, despite being the leading run-getter among the keeping competitors with 385 runs in IPL 2024, might be pipped by Rahul for the India spot owing to range of shots he offers.

Among the notable exclusions are Rinku Singh, who has been trained so far by the Indian team for the finisher role. In 15 matches for India since his debut last year, he has scored 356 runs at a strike rate of 176.23, with two fifty-plus scores. Lara also excluded Mohammed Siraj in his line-up, following his indifferent form in IPL 2024 and rather included Sandeep Sharma, who has been in an impressive form in the tournament for Rajastan Royals, both with the new and the old ball. The Windies great also included Mayank Yadav as an extra pacer after the Lucknow Super Giants fast bowler turned heads with his raw pace and wicket-taking abilities in the three games he played in IPL so far before being sidelined with an injury.

Brian Lara's India 15 for T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Sanju Samson, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Shivam Dube, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mayank Yadav