Khaleel Ahmed, Rinku Singh to miss T20 World Cup victory celebrations in India as duo forced to travel to Zimbabwe from Barbados

While the Rohit Sharma-led India team that won the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 will reach India to celebrate their victory, Khaleel Ahmed and Rinku Singh will not be part of them. Khaleel Ahmed and Rinku Singh will travel to Zimbabwe directly from Barbados to take part in the IND vs ZIM T20I series. 

Rinku Singh and Khaleel Ahmed were the traveling reserves for Team India in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. However, they did not get a chance to replace any player as no players were injured during the tournament.

Rohit Sharma-led Indian team won back-to-back 8 games to lift ICC T20 World Cup 2024 trophy. They crushed South Africa in the final by 7 runs to grab the tag of new T20I Champions. Now, the team will travel back home on Thursday, July 4. 

Rinku Singh and Khaleel Ahmed to leave for Zimbabwe from Barbados 

A BCCI source informed News18 that Rinku Singh and Khaleel Ahmed will directly travel to Zimbabwe for the IND vs ZIM T20I series. 

“Yes, both Khaleel (Ahmed) and Rinku (Singh) have left for Zimbabwe as they were named in the squad for the first two games. Rest will travel to Delhi first,” the BCCI source said. 

Earlier, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, and Shivam Dube were also expected to travel to Zimbabwe for the tour. BCCI also named them in the initial squad. However, the trio will travel to India first and then leave for Zimbabwe for the last three T20I games. 

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Sai Sudharsan, Jitesh Sharma and Harshit Rana chipped in for first two games 

As a result, BCCI has named Sai Sudharsan, Jitesh Sharma, and Harshit Rana as their replacements for the first two games. 

“The Men’s Selection Committee has named Sai Sudharsan, Jitesh Sharma and Harshit Rana as replacements for Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube and Yashasvi Jaiswal for the first two T20Is against Zimbabwe".

"Originally slated to join the Zimbabwe-bound squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series starting Saturday, 6th July, the trio will travel to India first with the rest of the ICC T20 World Cup-winning Indian squad before departing for Harare,” a BCCI release said. 

Hurricane Beryl delays Indian Team's arrival in India 

Meanwhile, Hurricane Beryl delayed Team India's return from Barbados. Due to the hurricane, the team is stuck inside the Team Hotel on the Caribbean island. They will board the flight late on Wednesday night and reach India by early Thursday morning. 

The Rohit Sharma & Boys will have a get-together session with Prime Minister Narendra Modi after reaching New Delhi. PM Modi also met them after the defeat in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 final in November last year. However, this time, it will be an event of celebration for clinching an ICC title after 11 years.