Mumbai: Chief selector Ajit Agarkar has revealed that team composition was the reason all-rounder Rinku Singh missed out on getting a spot in the Indian team for the T20 World Cup, to be held in the US and the Carribean.
India captain Rohit Sharma and Ajit Agarkar addressed a press conference on Thursday after the selection committee named the 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup, commencing June 2. After the squad was announced Rinku Singh's omission became the talk of the town as the left-handed batter has been brilliant while playing for the national side in the shortest format scoring runs with an average of 89 and a strike rate of 176.23.
Addressing a query regarding his exclusion, Agarkar said that the team balance was the reason behind dropping the Uttar Pradesh player from the national team.
"It's not his fault, I think. He is still one of the travelling subs. I know it can be a little bit tough on him. I think he missed out because of the team balance. We wanted to play an extra spinner," said Agarkar, himself a former India pacer.
In spite of Virat Kohli averaging 71.43, there have been talks about the elegant right-handed batter playing slow. He has a strike rate of 147.49 in the Indian Premier League so far. However, Agarkar said that Kohli’s strike rate is "not any issue".
"The experience matters a lot, there were never any talks regarding Virat Kohli's strike rate. There is no point over-thinking,” the former India speedster quipped.
The announced lineup has four spinners in it and Rohit said that he will reveal the reason behind doing so. "The reason for four spinners I won't reveal now and will reveal in West Indies. I personally wanted four spinners and Hardik (Pandha) as a seam all-rounder. Axar Jadeja being good batters and Kuldeep (Yadav) and (Yuxvendra) Chahal being attacking spinners gives us good balance," said Rohit.
