IPL form barely considered for India T20 World Cup squad, says Rohit Sharma

Captain Rohit Sharma says current Indian Premier League form was hardly a factor when it came to picking India's squad for the T20 World Cup.

Sharma said on Thursday they could have picked the 15-man squad before the IPL. They waited until this week and chose nine of the team that reached the 2022 semifinals.

The T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the United States starts on June 1 and India doesn't get going until June 5 against Canada on Long Island.

"We nearly made our squad combination before the IPL began (in March),” Sharma said on Thursday in a news conference. "There is nobody new coming into the squad, and a lot of our players have been playing T20s before the IPL. We just had to fill in some gaps and that's where the IPL has helped us. We knew our core group and only made a few additions.”

That core group included Sharma and Virat Kohli, around whom there was external debate about whether they should be picked. After their T20 World Cup exit in November 2022, the batting stars didn't play another Twenty20 for India until this past January, when Afghanistan visited. Sharma played three games and Kohli two.

Sharma said that was deliberate. The senior players focus mainly on the next major tournament, allowing India to try new players. "We only consistently play test cricket,” the captain added.

Sharma, 37, and Kohli, 35, are set to appear in their sixth consecutive T20 World Cup. They have never tasted success.

"These players have been around because they have been good enough, that’s why they have played multiple World Cups,” chief selector Ajit Agarkar said. "We didn't even discuss Virat Kohli’s IPL strike rate - playing a World Cup is a different pressure. You want that experience in your team.

"If we haven't won a trophy in the recent past, it is not for a lack of trying. It just boils down to the day.”

Lokesh Rahul played at the last two T20 World Cup and in the Cricket World Cup late last year but has missed out this time. The wicketkeepers were Rishabh Pant - his comeback for India after his near-fatal car crash in late 2022 - and Sanju Samson because of their ability to bat in the middle order.

"Currently in the IPL, (Rahul) is batting as an opener,” Agarkar said. "We were looking at middle-order options. Sanju Samson (who bats at number three for Rajasthan Royals) can bat lower down. Rishabh Pant (with Delhi Capitals) is batting at five. It is about the slots we needed to fill, and these are two incredible batters who can do the job lower down the order.”

Middle-order batter Shivam Dube was the only IPL-inspired selection for his power-hitting prowess.

Dube’s inclusion and the choice of four spinners, including the IPL’s highest wicket-taker in Yuzvendra Chahal, meant there was no room for left-hand batter Rinku Singh.

Singh made his T20 debut last year and has an average of 89 and a strike rate of 176.23 in 23 matches. His exclusion was heavily criticized in the media and social media.

"Rinku was unlucky, it wasn’t his fault,” Agarkar said. "We already had enough batting options and we needed the extra bowling options for our skipper to try out different combinations. It was the toughest call we made.”

Sharma said he wanted four spinners, two of them allrounders, because India's four group matches - including the marquee match with Pakistan on June 9 - all had morning starts to tie in with primetime TV at home. To Sharma, India's three pacers and four spinners were the answers to questions posed on their tours of the Caribbean in 2022 and 2023.

"We've played a lot of cricket there (in the Caribbean). We know what the conditions are like," Sharma said. "With morning starts at 10:30 a.m., there's a little bit of technical aspect involved in this.”

Associated Press