Sanju Samson beats KL Rahul, Chahal and Hardik Pandya included in India's T20 World Cup squad selected by Mithali Raj

After New Zealand emerged as the first team to announce their T20 World Cup squad on Monday with Kane Williamson as captain, BCCI is all expected to make the big revelation with May 1 marked as the deadline date by the International Cricket Council to name the list. It has been speculated that BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar met India captain Rohit Sharma in New Delhi on Sunday to discuss the World Cup squad. He is now to head to Mumbai to meet his selection committee colleagues to have a final discussion on the squad before revealing it on Wednesday.

Ahead of the announcement, veteran cricketers and experts have been revealing their preferred squad for the T20 World Cup and former India women's team captain Mithali Raj revealed her probable 15 for the ICC tournament.

While the squad mostly comprised of usual suspects, the two big absentees were KL Rahul and Shubman Gill. And a striking inclusion was Yuzvendra Chahal.

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The Gujarat Titans captain amassed 320 runs in 10 matches, 71 runs more than what Yashasvi Jaiswal managed in the IPL 2024 season. Yet Mithali backed the Rajasthan Royals star as Rohit's opening partner. The batting line-up also comprised of power-hitters like Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh, while Hardik Pandya, whole bowling fitness has been a major worry for the selectors, has been picked in the squad as well.

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In the intense battle for the two possible wicketkeeping spots, Mithali picked Rishabh Pant as her first-choice option, followed by Sanju Samson, who has been the leading run-getters among the competitors for the spot, thus leaving KL Rahul out of the squad. The decision comes despite reports circulating that the Lucknow Super Giants captain might get the green signal ahead of his RR counterpart owing to the range of shots he offers.

A notable inclusion in the squad has been Chahal, who is currently the leading wicket-taker among spinners with 13 wickets in nine matches, one more than Kuldeep Yadav, who has played only seven games this season. They are the only two spinners featuring in the top 10 of the Purple Cap list.

Mithali Raj's 15 for ICC T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj