Hardik Pandya eats up Rinku Singh's spot in India's T20 World Cup Squad

In a recent development, it has been confirmed that Mumbai Indians captain and all-rounder Hardik Pandya will be an automatic selection in the Indian team for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

While Pandya is on course to be there in the team for the WC, there will be stiff competition between middle-order batters Rinku Singh and Chennai Super Kings all-rounder Shivam Dube.

The deadline for the 15-man squad announcement is the 1st of May and all the contenders will have to be at their best before the date arrives. 

The 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League is serving as a great preparatory tournament for not just the Indian players but also for the foreigners in the league.

This tournament is more than capable of helping a player prove themselves and go on to book their tickets for the T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies.

The biggest question at the moment is what will India's middle-order look like and who will be the all-rounders, Hardik Pandya or Shivam Dube? 

Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya and Virat Kohli in the provisional list 

Latest reports from the PTI are claiming that the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee has already figured out the top 10 players from the 15-man squad for the World Cup.

Among them, while Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube are still on the waiting list, new MI captain Hardik Pandya is there along with skipper Rohit Sharma, top-order batter Virat Kohli as well as Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant. No other names have been disclosed yet but Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj may be also in the top 10 list. 

Competition between Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh for the lower-middle order spot

The same report from the PTI has claimed that, while Hardik Pandya is not in danger of losing his spot, the Indian middle and lower-middle order will see a tussle between Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh.

Both of them have had a good tournament so far but in terms of the finisher's role, Rinku is likely to cut. The reason behind Dube's possible non-selection from the 15-man squad could be the fact that the CSK man hasn't bowled a single over in the tournament. 

For the all-rounder's criteria, bowling is a must but Shivam Dube has yet to tick that particular box. Hardik Pandya, too, has not bowled much in this edition but due to his experience in ICC tournaments and seniority in the team, the Baroda all-rounder is most likely to make it. 

But that one selection fight to watch out for will be between Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube. In terms of numbers with the bat, Rinku might have had a better season than Shivam last season as he had scored 474 runs while Dube had 418.

But this season, Dube has had the chance to bat more and so he has scored 242 runs already from 6 matches at a 160+ strike rate. 

Rinku Singh on the other hand has not batted much this season and so in 6 matches, the UP batter has only 83 runs but that doesn't take away anything from his finishing skills. He is still the same man who smacked 5 sixes in a row last season to help his team win from an unthinkable situation. 

And as the deadline comes closer, the anticipation is increasing but who will make the final cut? Time will tell. 

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