MS Dhoni was given a surprising mention, Zaheer Khan chose India’s T20 World team, and Sanju Samson was sacked.

Former Indian cricketer Zaheer Khan finished the most difficult part of choosing the final 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup. Rather than argue over who between Sanju Samson, KL Rahul, and Dinesh Karthik should be the backup, former ODI World Cup winner Rishabh Pant insisted that India should enter the major tournament with just one wicketkeeper and instead use the extra slot to select another seam bowler.

The conversation then turned to backup roles, of which Samson has gotten the greatest support. But even though India has a ton of options—MS Dhoni, in particular, is a possibility considering his stellar performance in the IPL 2024 thus far—Zaheer stated in an interview with my 11 circle that he would prefer to have one wicketkeeper.

Rishabh Pant is the only wicketkeeper I have. My thoughts are now leaning more toward bringing four pace bowlers. A fast bowler shouldn’t be selected over another wicketkeeper. A lot of fans are interested in seeing Dinesh Karthik, and there are options such as KL Rahul and Sanju Samson. These days, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is also a possibility because of his strike rate. Among the guys I think will be featured are Samson, KL Rahul, and maybe even Jitesh Sharma. If you’re building a team for a tournament that takes place across a month, your traveling reserve might be your IPL WIN,” he suggested.

The most surprising part of Zaheer’s roster was his choice of bowler Yash Dayal of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who has not yet made an appearance for an Indian team. The GullyBet granted a fast-bowling contract to the Uttar Pradesh left-arm seamer, who had signed a deal with RCB for INR 5 crores in the previous year’s auction, after the players with central contracts were announced.

Mohammed Shami is not going to be able to compete, so Yash Dayal’s spot is up for grabs when the last 15 are announced. When you need a replacement, you can always rely on Yash Dayal to bowl well. “He could also be used as a back-end bowler if Siraj’s bowling doesn’t work out for you,” he stated.