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Indian captain and veteran Mumbai Indians (MI) opener Rohit Sharma was seen talking to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Rinku Singh on the eve of the IPL 2024 fixture between the two teams at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday, May 3.
In a video posted by MI on social media, Rohit is seen having a conversation with the KKR players Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat and mentor Gautam Gambhir. He also had a brief chat with Rinku which possibly could be around the latter not getting selected into the 15-man squad for India's T20 World Cup campaign in June.
Rohit Sharma addressed the press conference alongside Indian chief selector Ajit Agarkar earlier on Thursday and seemed to directly head to the Wankhede Stadium after that.
Here's the video:
Rinku has been named in the traveling reserves alongside the likes of Shubman Gill, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.
Ajit Agarkar explains Rinku Singh's exclusion to the press
Meanwhile, Ajit Agarkar admitted that it was an incredibly tough decision for the selectors and the team management to leave Rinku Singh out of the 15-man squad. He accepted that it was not down to the southpaw not performing but was a decision because of what the Indian team needed in terms of combination.
Here's what he told reporters:
"It's probably the toughest thing we had to discuss. He has done nothing wrong. I don't think it has anything to do with Rinku Singh. It's not his fault that he has missed out. It's more the 15 that we felt gives with two keepers who are already terrific batters. So we just thought having another bowling option would be handy. He is still one of the traveling subs. That's how close he was."
Rinku Singh has an incredible average of 89 in just 15 T20Is for India and a sensational strike rate of 176.23.
India's 15-man T20 World Cup Squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Hardik Pandya (Vice Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.
