Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria has raised concerns over the exclusion of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Rinku Singh from India’s 15-man squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Kaneria believes that Rinku should have been included in the main squad, while Mumbai Indians (MI) all-rounder Hardik Pandya should have been omitted due to his poor form in the ongoing IPL.
Kaneria praised India’s recent production of talented cricketers, citing Yashasvi Jaiswal, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Mayank Yadav, and Abhishek Sharma as examples. He emphasized that Rinku’s performances in the IPL warranted his inclusion in the T20 World Cup squad.
“I feel that Rinku should have been a part of India’s T20 WC squad. If I take the ongoing IPL’s performances into consideration, then Hardik Pandya should have been the one to miss out. He hasn’t shown consistency at all,” Kaneria said in an interview with Sports Now.
Kaneria suggested that Shivam Dube, who has been in good form for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), would have been a better choice than Pandya. He believes that a combination of Dube and Rinku would have strengthened India’s lower order.
Meanwhile, Rinku had a disappointing outing in his first game since the T20 World Cup omission. In the match between KKR and MI, he scored only nine runs off eight balls before being dismissed by Piyush Chawla. Despite Rinku’s poor performance, KKR defeated MI by 24 runs at the Wankhede Stadium.
KKR’s victory was their first at the Wankhede ground in 12 years and their seventh from 10 games this season. MI, on the other hand, slumped to ninth position in the 10-team competition after their eighth loss in 11 games. KKR is currently placed second and is well-positioned to make it to the play-offs.
