On April 30, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced India’s 15-member squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies. The most notable exclusion was Rinku Singh who has an average of 89 in T20Is and a strike rate of over 170. While many have criticised the selection committee for ignoring Rinku, former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly understands why the tough call was made.
"It's West Indies. The wickets may be slow and assist spin so they (selectors) wanted to go with another spinner. Maybe because of that Rinku didn't get an opportunity but it's just the beginning for Rinku," Ganguly said at the Trophy unveiling ceremony of the Bengal Pro T20 League in Kolkata.
India will begin their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign against Ireland on June 5. Ganguly picked his two best teams at the event.
"India and Australia the two best teams of the tournament. I'm sure they will do the same thing in the USA and the West Indies," Ganguly said.
The former opener is not disappointed by the squad picked for the marquee tournament and trusts skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid to pick the best.
"It's a fabulous squad, they are all match winners. All 15 are good enough to be selected, I'm sure Rohit (Sharma) and Rahul (Dravid) will pick the best,” he added.
At the event, all the eight franchises and their marquee players in the Bengal Pro T20 League were announced. The inaugural edition will be played at Eden Gardens and Jadavpur University Salt Lake Campus ground from June 11-28.
List of franchises and their marquee players -
Kolkata Royal Tigers (areas: Kolkata & Hooghly) (marquee players: Abhishek Porel and Mita Paul).
Harbour Diamonds (North & South 24 Parganas) (Manoj Tiwary and Sukanya Panda).
Rashmi Medinipur Wizards (Medinipur and Jhargram) (Abhimanyu Easwaran & Richa Ghosh).
Servotec Siliguri Strikers (Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Kalimpong) (Akash Deep and Priyanka Bala).
Adamas Howrah Warriors (Howrah, Purulia and Bankura) (Anustup Majumdar and Dhara Gujjar).
Malda Sobisco Smashers (Dinajpur and Malda) (Mukesh Kumar & Rishita Basu).
Murshidabad King (Murshidabad and Nadia) (Sudeep Gharami and Deepti Sharma).
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
Co-hosts USA announce T20 World Cup 2024 squad, name 4 former IPL players including New Zealand's World Cup 2015 finalist
West Indies announce squad for T20 World Cup 2024, pick young pacer yet to make his T20I debut
