The timing of the IPL 2024 and T20 World Cup 2024—the latter beginning less than ten days after the IPL 2024 final—made the world’s rich franchise league an ideal practice tournament for the T20 World Cup-bound players. This was especially true for India, as all of the World Cup-bound players featured extensively in the league with no injury concerns (thankfully).
However, what is telling is that no one from the 15-member India squad for the T20 World Cup will feature in today’s IPL 2024 final between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai, Except Rinku Singh, who will travel to the Americas as a reserve player.
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The representation of World Cup-bound players from Australia and South Africa in the final stands at three – Pat Cummins, Travis Head from SRH, Mitchell Starc from KKR, and for SA, Heinrich Klassen, Aiden Markram and Marco Jansen. West Indies have two T20 World Cup-bound players who could feature in the IPL 2024 final – Andre Russell KKR and Sherfane Rutherford (both KKR). Afghanistan also have a representation with Rahmanullah Gurbaz (KKR) and Fazalhaq Farooqui (SRH) and even Sri Lanka have one World Cup-bound player who could feature in the final – Dushmantha Chameera (SRH).
Does this mean that, with no Indians featuring in the final, it is not good news for the team heading into the T20 World Cup? Well, not really. On the upside, the majority of the Indian squad is already on their way to the USA (they boarded the fight on the 25th of May), barring Virat Kohli, Sanju Samson and Hardik Pandya, so they will get a few more days to get acclimatised to the conditions.
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However, rather than focusing on how many Indian World Cup-bound players are in the IPL 2024 final, what should ideally be looked at is how those USA-bound players performed in the IPL 2024. Even though none of the players’ teams made it to the final, we cannot blame the individuals, right?
In the list of highest run-getters in IPL 2024 – named Orange Cap tally – Virat Kohli is sure to end the tournament as the most prolific run-getter this season with 741 runs in 15 matches, striking at 154.69. So that’s an uptick, right?
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There are six Indians in total who feature in the top 10 list of Orange Cap for this season, but apart from Kohli, only Sanju Samson (531 runs in 16 matches, striking at 153.56) is going to the T20 World Cup. The other Indians in the top 10 list not going to the World Cup are CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (583 runs in 14 matches, striking at 141.16), Riyan Parag (573 runs in 16 matches, striking at 149.21), GT’s Sai Sudharsan (527 runs in 12 games, striking at 141.28), KL Rahul (520 runs in 14 matches, striking at 136.12) and Abhishek Sharma (482 runs in 15 games, striking at 207.75).
So, what do we make out of this list? Parag, Sudharsan, Rahul, and Sharma should have been in the World Cup squad because they performed so well in IPL 2024.
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Similarly, in the list of highest wicket-takers in IPL 2024—named Purple Cap—nine Indians are in the top 10 list, and only three are T20 World Cup-bound: Jasprit Bumrah (24 wickets at an economy of 6.48), Arshdeep Singh (19 wickets at 10.03), and Yuzvendra Chahal (18 wickets at 9.41).
The lone overseas player in the top 10 list is Cummins, who is ranked 9th with 17 wickets at 9.28. The other six Indians in that list who are not part of the T20 World Cup squad are the leading wicket-taker Harshal Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy, T Natarajan, Avesh Khan (in WC reserves), Tushar Deshpande, and Harshit Rana.
So, the question again is: Should those above six have been part of India’s T20 World Cup squad? Hell, Patel has more wickets than Bumrah. He may as well be a better bowler than Bumrah; who’s to say otherwise?
This is the big problem with team selections—especially for big-ticket tournaments. The moment player(s) miss the cut or are sidelined, they suddenly become ten times better players in the fans’ eyes. He should have been picked; he should not have been ignored. What has this selected player done to merit a place? It’s biased selection, etc.
Until the day the World Cup squad was announced, the clamour was for BCCI not to consider only IPL 2024 players to pick the team. And rightly so, BCCI rewarded Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kuldeep Yadav, and Suryakumar Yadav with a place in the T20 squad. Shivam Dube was the only player to make the cut basis his IPL 2024 form. But, once the team was announced and by the time we reached the IPL 2024 final, Lo and Behold! No WC-bound Indian is playing the final; what a rubbish team BCCI has selected!
Do you see the paradox here?
Be that as it may, the IPL 2024 features the two best teams in the competition – one consistent from their first match itself with a resurgent leader who has a point to prove – to those who questioned his commitment towards the national team and terminated his central contact – aided by a master tactician, who could very well be at the helm of the national team in the coming months; and the other a leader who knows nothing, but how to win tournaments; aided by a free-spirited squad that has proved to be the trendsetters, not just this IPL, not just the 17-year long history of the league; dare I say, the T20 cricket as a whole.
Let’s enjoy this cracker of a contest! And for once, remove yourself from that cynical armchair critic role, who find gratification in being the anonymous keyboard warriors, and type away lambasting and lampooning everything in sight, and frankly, for no rhyme or reason.
Stay updated with the latest from IPL 2024 , including updated list of Orange Cap In IPL 2024 and Purple Cap. Explore IPL Match Today . Check IPL 2024 Points Table and players with the Most Sixes , Most Fours ,Most Fifties And Most Hundreds In IPL 2024. Stay updated with the latest news on the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024.