Pant, Samson in mix as wicketkeepers, but no Rahul

The Indian team for the ICC T20 World Cup will be picked unofficially on April 30 at a dinner table in Mumbai and the 15-man squad will be announced on May 1.

There are three basic questions. Who will keep wickets? How many spinners should be included? And since Hardik Pandya is not bowling well in the IPL at the moment, should he be dropped or another all-rounder should be taken with him?

From a playing XI point of view, it is learnt that captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal will occupy the top three positions. Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant will follow at No. 4 and No. 5 respectively.

Also Read: Pant-KL being considered as wicketkeepers for T20 World Cup: Sources

If Pandya gets the nod, he will bat at No. 6 and Ravindra Jadeja at No. 7. Pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj are assured a spot in the XI while Arshdeep Singh could be the third seamer in a probable XI or a spinner from Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, who could be the other two spinners in the squad.

Other contenders to make the squad are Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson, Harshal Patel and Riyan Parag. Dinesh Karthik, 38, is being talked about but sources say he will miss out for a younger man.