Ajit Agarkar flew to Delhi to meet Rohit Sharma about the T20 World Cup squad© AFP
National Selection Committee chairman Ajit Agarkar and skipper Rohit Sharma are expected to have an informal meeting in the national capital over a possible 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup in America. The formal announcement could take place in Mumbai on May 1, the closing date for the ICC event. It is understood that Agarkar has specially flown to Delhi for Saturday's IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals as he would also get a chance to talk to skipper Rohit and get more clarity before sitting down with his colleagues to to choose the final team.
There are a number of slots that will be up for debate as most of the team is self-selecting. There won't be many surprises and the only thing that selection committee and team management need to be convinced of is Hardik Pandya's bowling fitness.
If Hardik gets into the 15, only one of Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh can be accommodated, while it looks like KL Rahul, one of the favorites of the current coaching dispensation led by Rahul Dravid, will be far behind his nearest rival Sanju Samson has left. .
There is very little chance of a left-field selection and one option could be Tilak Varma of Mumbai Indians, who is a flamboyant left-hander and can also bowl adroitly off-spin if the opposition has more left-handers.
However, it cannot be determined to what extent that is possible as Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi are battling it out for the third spinner.
Yuzvendra Chahal, the country's most skilled white-ball wrist spinner, is reportedly not a priority for an influential member of the coaching staff who has a big say in selection matters.
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