Performance in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will not be the main criteria for selection in India‘s squad for this year’s T20 World Cup, according to reports. The highly-anticipated ICC event is scheduled to be played from June 1, right after the conclusion of IPL 2024. Unsurprisingly, many believe that the selectors could select the players based on their performance in the seventeenth season of the IPL.
Over the years, one has seen several players getting into the Indian team after impressing in the IPL. However, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel is unlikely to take that route for the all-important T20 World Cup. According to reports, the selectors have already chalked out the squad for the mega event and are unlikely to tinker too much with their plans based on the IPL.
“IPL will be important, but it won’t be the main criteria for selection for the T20 World Cup. The selectors have more or less chalked out a squad. The IPL won’t change too much unless there is a breakthrough performance or a drastic dip in form,” the source was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
Big blow for Virat Kohli’s T20 World Cup aspirations:
The IPL not being the main selection criteria could be a huge blow for Virat Kohli whose place in the team for the T20 World Cup is under doubt. According to recent reports, the selectors are not willing to include the former India captain in the team for the World Cup.
The reason is Kohli’s failure to cope with the team’s needs in the shortest format. He returned to the T20I squad in January this year after an absence of more than a year. As per reports, the selectors had talked to him before the T20I series against Afghanistan and had asked him to change his approach in the shortest format of the game.
Kohli duly obliged and tried to play aggressively right from the word go but could not score big, registering scores of 29 and 0. The former India captain needs to have an extraordinary campaign in the upcoming IPL or he could be dropped from the squad for the T20 World Cup.