Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, one of cricket's most respected figures, weighed in on the unexpected exclusion of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) star Rinku Singh from India's T20 World Cup 2024 squad. The veteran feels that selectors ignored Singh due to his underwhelming form in the current Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season so far.
Rinku Singh's consistent performances in last year's IPL earned him an almost permanent place in India's T20 setup. In 15 T20Is for India, Singh has amassed a total of 356 runs at an outstanding strike rate of 176.23. What's even more remarkable is that he remained unbeaten in 11 out of these 15 innings.
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The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee has named Rinku Singh among the reserve players for the T20 World Cup 2024, alongside Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan, and Shubman Gill. This decision suggests that the selectors prioritized selecting India's T20 World Cup 2024 15-man squad (not the 4 reserve players) based on their current form in the current IPL season.
Even ex-India skipper Sunil Gavaskar feels the reason behind Rinku Singh's exclusion from India's 15-man T20 World Cup 2024 squad is his lackluster form in the ongoing IPL.
"Maybe his (Rinku Singh) form in this particular edition of the IPL hasn't been great. He hasn't had that many opportunities (with KKR), maybe that's the reason why they've (selectors) not picked him," Sunil Gavaskar told Sports Today.
KKR's left-handed explosive batter Rinku Singh has had limited opportunities to showcase his batting skills in this year's IPL, scoring 123 runs in eight IPL innings throughout the entire season thus far. His highest score for KKR in IPL 2024 so far is 26; reason why possibly the selectors opted for Shivam Dube in the main 15-man squad, for the finishers' role.
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