Despite all the speculation about not taking part in the T20 World Cup 2024, Rohit and Virat have returned to this shortest format of cricket. Both legends will be on the field in the T20 series against Afghanistan. Along with this, it has also become clear that BCCI wants to see these two players in the T20 World Cup and that is why they have returned to the T20 squad after a break of over a year.
It is almost certain that Rohit and Virat will take part in the T20 World Cup but now questions are being raised about KL Rahul. With the return of Rohit-Virat, it might now be a bit difficult for KL to fight for a place in the team. This is because the young players in Team India are currently performing brilliantly. Yashasvi, Tilak and Rinku Singh have played back-to-back good innings in T20 International. Then the places of players like Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya will also be decided. Rituraj Gaikwad and Shubhman Gill also groove. In such a situation, will KL Rahul return to the T20 team or not? That's a great question.
KL Rahul has definitely been ruled out of the T20 series against Afghanistan but the T20 doors are not completely closed for him yet. He has currently been given a rest period ahead of the England series. He was part of the ODI and Test series against South Africa and apart from batting and wicket-keeping, he also carried the captaincy responsibilities in ODIs. In such a situation, the selectors decided to rest him considering the long series of five Test matches against England. However, there is also a discussion that KL Rahul bats very slowly on many occasions in T20 cricket and India have better options than him. In such a situation, KL's return to T20 International is impossible.
This seems to be true to some extent. KL Rahul is an excellent Test and ODI player but his recent record in T20 International is average. Then the T20 World Cup, scheduled to take place in June, will be played in the West Indies and the USA and the wickets are expected to be flat here where picking explosive batsmen will be a lucrative business. Considering all these things, KL's claim to return to the T20 World Cup seems weak, but currently the doors are wide open for him to secure a place in the T20 squad.
With his excellent wicketkeeping in the 2023 World Cup, KL Rahul has added another important skill to his batting. He gives Team India the opportunity to have both a good wicketkeeper and a reliable batsman. In such a situation, if the wicketkeeper-batsmen Sanju Samson and Jitesh Sharma fail to do anything special in the Afghanistan series and the performance of both remains average in the IPL, then KL Rahul's path to the T20 World Cup could be a little easier. Rishabh Pant is not capable of wicketkeeping at the moment and Ishan Kishan is constantly in and out of the team. In such a situation, KL Rahul can make a comeback in the T20 team.
There are many other options for KL Rahul to return. For example, even if Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Verma don't win the trust of the Indian selectors in the Afghanistan T20 series and IPL, the selectors would find it better to focus on KL Rahul. Even if one of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shubman Gill continues to be out of form, KL Rahul can be the ticket. Apart from this, his return to the T20 team is certain if all Indian players perform better but even if KL Rahul's bat shines in the IPL. In such a situation, there are currently many options for KL Rahul to take part in the T20 World Cup.
