Here is why India might have picked Shivam Dube over Rinku Singh in their squad for the T20 World Cup. 

Today (April 30), India named their 15-member provisional squad for the T20 World Cup. As is often the case, some calls led to discussions in the cricket fraternity. One of them was their choice of Shivam Dube over Rinku Singh.

T20 World Cup 2024: Find updated lists of all squads announced here.

India squad for T20 World Cup 2024

Batters – Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav. All-rounders – Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel. Wicketkeepers – Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson. Fast bowlers – Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj. Spinners – Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal. Reserves – Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan.

India have to play at least six players who can bowl. While one or more of them can be promoted, let us assume that they will occupy batting positions six to eleven. These will include at least two of the all-rounders – Pandya, Jadeja, and Axar.

That leaves India with five others in the XI. As captain, Rohit is a certain pick at the top. Kohli is also a certain starter, though it is not clear whether he will open batting – as he does for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru – or bat at three – he usually does that for India. Suryakumar is likely to come at four.

India’s selection of their wicketkeeper may depend on where Kohli bats. If he opens, Samson may come in at three, but if Jaiswal opens and Kohli bats at three, Pant may get a break at five. These are positions they bat more at.

Thus, India will choose between two combinations.

Combination 1: Rohit-Jaiswal-Kohli-Suryakumar-Pant-bowlers
Combination 2: Rohit-Kohli-Samson-Suryakumar-batter-bowlers

As is evident, only the second option accommodates a slot for an extra batter. This is also the slot for which India chose Dube over Rinku.

Why, one may ask. Rinku has established credentials as a T20 finisher, both for India and in franchise cricket. He strikes at 148 in all T20 and at 176 for India; the latter, while averaging 89 (he has got out only four times in 11 innings). In other words, he has scored rapidly in the death overs without getting out.

Dube is not far behind either. His numbers may read slightly inferior to Rinku’s (all T20 143, T20I 145), but since 2022, he has transformed himself into a six-hitting machine in the IPL. Since the start of 2022, he strikes at 151 in the league, while his 77 sixes over this period over this period are 10 clear of anyone else’s tally.

There may also be a case of Dube edging past Rinku based on pure form. In IPL 2024, Dube has amassed 350 runs at 172 – significantly superior to Rinku’s tally of 123 at 150. On the other hand, Rinku has superior credentials at international level in a T20I career between August 2023 and January 2024.

But what might have tilted the balance in Dube’s favour is his ability to bowl seam. The Impact Player rule in the IPL has led to him not bowling at all in IPL 2024. In all T20, he has bowled 1.1 overs per match.

However, against Afghanistan in the T20Is earlier this year, Rohit ensured Dube bowled every time. While his numbers in that series – 7-0-70-2 – do not make impressive reading, the team management was keen in testing him out. Rinku bowls sporadically.

Fun dichotomy in how teams are picked in franchise T20 cricket compared to T20Is. One seems to be more about specific roles while the other solely based on team balance. Rinku Singh is a designated finisher but lacking a secondary skill seems to have gone against him #T20WorldCup

— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) April 30, 2024

But do India need a seventh bowler in the XI?

At the 2023 World Cup, India lost their team balance after Pandya got injured midway through the tournament, and continued to play an XI where the tail began at eight. It caught up with them in the final, when they lost three quick wickets, and four and five were forced to play cautiously to delay the arrival of six and seven. The lack of balance was brutally exposed by Australia.

Dube is not Pandya. He does not bowl as much as Pandya, and neither is he in the same league as a bowler. But in India, he comes closest to Pandya while fitting the bill of someone who bats in the top five or even top four and bowl seam. If there is an encore of 2023, India may go in with Rohit, Jaiswal, Kohli, Suryakumar, Pant, and Dube, who will then be promoted to the sixth bowler. The specialist bowlers will share the 20 overs, but Dube can chip in with the odd over.

Could India have picked Dube and Rinku?

Assuming they picked every batter they picked and both keepers, India could still have found a place for both Dube and Rinku. As the only pace-bowling all-rounder, Pandya would have made it to the squad. Jadeja and Axar would have made it as well. India may want to leave out Pandya and play both Jadeja and Axar depending on the pitches.

Since there are only three fast bowlers, the axe would have had to fall on a spinner – in other words, Chahal. That the selectors picked both in addition to Axar and Jadeja clearly tells that they believe that spin is going to play a major role at the World Cup.

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