Key Indian player set to be shock omission from T20 World Cup squad unless...

The countdown for Team India's selection for the upcoming T20 World Cup has started. The selectors have been travelling to different IPL venues and have kept an eye on the performances of the players. Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar, India head coach Rahul Dravid, and captain Rohit Sharma met in the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai last week.

According to the Indian Express, they touched upon various topics but the major part of the discussion was about the seam bowling allrounder that India is going to select for the tournament. It is understood that they reached a conclusion that Hardik Pandya needs to bowl regularly if he wants to make a comeback into the team.

Hardik Pandya to be out of T20 World Cup?

According to the reports, the selectors want Hardik Pandya as an allrounder and not just as a batter. Hardik's ability to bowl at high pace with penetration and his batting skills makes him an obvious choice for the consideration. A lot will depend on his bowling workload and it remains to be seen in the upcoming matches of Mumbai Indians.

Pandya is having a torrid time in IPL 2024 with both bat and ball. He has scored 131 runs in 6 matches so far at an average of 26.20. With the ball, his numbers are even more disappointing as he has picked up just 3 wickets so far at an average of 44. He has an economy rate of 12 in these games.

The allrounder has bowled in 4 out of 6 matches that Mumbai Indians have played thus far. In the recent match against Chennai Super Kings, he sent down 3 overs and returned figures with 2-43, which also included a 26-run final over. Pandya was taken to the cleaners by MS Dhoni in the last over of the innings, and tonked 3 consecutive sixes off his bowling.

At his best, Hardik Pandya has a knock of picking up crucial wickets in the middle overs. He mostly hits the back of a length area and gets the ball to bounce to cause trouble for the batters. But his penetration has been missing this season. As a result, he has been targeted by the opposition batters and has gone for plenty of runs.

Also read: Irfan Pathan predicts this IPL star would make his India debut in a year

Shivam Dube is another player whom the selectors have an eye on. Dube's ability to hit big shots against the spinners stand out. The left-hander has been in sensational form in IPL 2024 where he has scored 242 rims at an average of 60.50 and a brilliant strike rate of 163.51 for Chennai Super Kings.

While Dube is also a seam bowling allrounder, his skills with the ball have been hardly used by CSK given the impact player rule. He might not be as quick as Pandya but can send down a few overs if needed. Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma, and Sanju Samson are some of the other players who are fighting it out for the finisher's role in the T20 World Cup squad.

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