Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has omitted Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya from his 15-member India squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Speaking on Star Sports, Manjrekar listed the 15 players he would select for India’s 2024 T20 World Cup squad. He admitted it to be an “extremely difficult” task because of  India’s vast talent pool.

“It’s extremely difficult because there are many quality players. Especially after the IPL, there are too many options, but let me make an effort,” Manjrekar said.

The most notable omissions were of Kohli’s and Pandya’s as Manjrekar picked Sanju Samson to bat at No.3 and named Krunal Pandya as the squad’s other all-rounder besides Ravindra Jadeja.

One of the hotly debated positions in India’s T20 World Cup squad is Kohli’s. While Kohli leads the run-scoring charts in IPL 2024 with 460 runs at 61.43 and 145.76, a school of thought argues that he doesn’t score quickly enough and India should look at other options. His knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad this week came under the scanner, where he scored 32 runs from his first 18 balls, only to manage 19 runs from the next 25. He also scored the joint-slowest century in the IPL from 67 balls against Rajasthan Royals this year.

On Pandya, the Mumbai captain has had a disappointing  IPL campaign, both as a leader and an all-rounder. From eight games so far, he has only managed 151 runs with the best of 39 and four wickets at 46.50.

REVEALED: @sanjaymanjrekar‘s Fab 15 squad for the #T20WorldCup2024! 😲

A few interesting names get his nod for the #VisaToWorldCup, but 1 MAJOR name misses out! Do you agree with his choices for #T20WorldCupOnStar?

Participate in the biggest opinion poll ever on our social… pic.twitter.com/nvHABDyLzi

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) April 26, 2024

Other notable absentees included Shivam Dube, who has had a stellar IPL 2024 until now, and Rinku Singh. Manjrekar wanted Yashasvi Jaiswal to partner with Rohit Sharma at the top and named Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul as his two wicketkeeping options.

Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav were the two specialist spinners, with Jasprit Bumrah leading a pace attack comprising of Mohammed Siraj, Avesh Khan, Harshit Rana, and express quick Mayank Yadav, who shot to fame with his 155 kmph thunderbolts in IPL 2024.

Sanjay Manjerekar’s 2024 T20 World Cup squad for India: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Avesh Khan, Harshit Rana, Mayank Yadav, Krunal Pandya.

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