Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar excluded Virat Kohli from his 15-man squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, opting for Sanju Samson over Kohli in the No. 3 position. The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, set to commence from June 1, will be jointly hosted by the USA and West Indies.

The Indian selection committee is scheduled to convene in the next few days to finalize India’s squad for the prestigious tournament. The ongoing IPL 2024 is viewed as a platform for players to showcase their skills and secure spots in the T20 World Cup squad. Despite being the current Orange Cap holder, Kohli did not cut Manjrekar’s squad.

No Kohli, Pandya In T20 WC?

During a discussion on Star Sports, Manjrekar unveiled his squad for the T20 World Cup, acknowledging the challenge of selecting players from the vast talent pool in Indian cricket.

“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 in the Star Sports video.

Notably, Kohli’s exclusion from the team raised eyebrows, along with that of Hardik Pandya. Kohli faced criticism recently for his strike rate, despite his significant run-scoring contributions for RCB. In nine matches this season, he has amassed 430 runs at an average of 61.43 and a strike rate of 145.76.

However, Kohli’s innings against SRH attracted scrutiny, where he scored 32 runs off the first 18 deliveries but managed only 19 runs from the next 25 balls. Additionally, he recorded the joint-slowest century in IPL history, taking 67 balls to reach the milestone against RR this season.

Manjrekar’s T20 WC Squad

Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Avesh Khan, Harshit Rana, Mayank Yadav, Krunal Pandya.

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