Why is KL Rahul not playing the 2024 T20 World Cup?

Team India wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul won't feature in the ongoing 2024 T20 World Cup. He was not picked in the Men in Blue's 15-member squad for the showpiece event in the West Indies and the USA.

Rahul also didn't find a place in the reserves. The Indian selectors gave the nod to Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson over Rahul for the ICC tournament.

Rahul hasn't played a T20I since India's heartbreaking 10-wicket defeat to England in the semi-final of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Adelaide.

The right-handed batter was the highest run-getter for the Lucknow Super Giants in the recently concluded season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2024). He scored 520 runs in 14 innings at an average of 37.14 and a strike rate of 136.12. However, he still couldn't make the cut in India's 2024 T20 World Cup squad.

India's 15-member squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohd. Siraj.

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"It is about the slots that we needed" - Ajit Agarkar on why KL Rahul wasn't picked for 2024 T20 World Cup

Commenting on KL Rahul's absence from India's 2024 T20 World Cup squad, chairman of the selection committee Ajit Agarkar stated that the team needed wicketkeepers who could bat in the middle order.

He pointed out that KL Rahul has been batting at the top of the order in T20 cricket. Suggesting that Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant were better suited in terms of the team combination, here's what Agarkar said at a press conference:

"KL is a terrific player, we all know that. The thing we were obviously looking at is guys who are batting in the middle. At the moment, KL is batting at the top. We feel Sanju has the ability to come down the order, if need be. Rishabh is batting at No.5 for Delhi, so that was more the thinking. It was not whether KL is better or these guys are better, it is about the slots that we needed and these two are better equipped at this point."

India's 2024 T20 World Cup campaign kicks off with a clash against Ireland at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on Wednesday, June 5.