Let’s have a match-up, guys!

Ajit Agarkar amp Co had an unenviable task to pick the 15member squad for the T20 World CupInevitably there will be debates and sob stories but then the T20 WC is held every two years so the therersquosalwaysnexttime consolation is for real India have so much talent that it could field two WC teams in fantasy cricket of course So here is my second team of 15Ruturaj Gaikwad captain The skipper of Indiarsquos gold medalwinning team at last Octoberrsquos Asian Games has led CSK well this season after MS Dhoni handed over charge He has been in sublime form at the top of the order and his scores in the last six games read 67 69 17 108 98 and 62Shubman Gill vicecaptain The GT captain has not set the rivers on fire with big scores in this edition of the IPL but he hasnrsquot been in poor form either He is young but experienced and his ability can never be played downKL Rahul Being an accomplished allformat player the Bangalore batsmanwicketkeeper becomes a vital player in the alternate pack Apart from his player of the match innings of 82 against CSK on April 19 he has led LSG to victory over the defending champions twice this season Not many IPL captains can boast of landing this double blow on the top flight outfitTilak Varma Runs among ruins for MI The middleorder batsman ended up three runs shy of the 400mark in his first season in 2022 but is set to enjoy his most successful IPL season on the personal front this year The India A batsman is at 343 in 10 games the same number of runs he scored last yearShreyas Iyer He may have not been thought much about during deliberations for the T20 World Cup team but Iyer canrsquot be denied a place in this team A back injury has hampered his progress but when fully fit he can pulverise an attack He has done well as captain of KKRDinesh Karthik Undeniable spirit remarkable belief and longevity that would make the most enduring of veterans proud is what wicketkeeperbatsman Karthik displays with each game he plays He was in contention for a place in the 15 that was chosen but age 38 went against him That he still has the skills of a slayer is being proved in the ongoing IPLRinku Singh Clearly the most unfortunate player in the country to miss out on a World Cup berth Hersquos the sort of player who can cause fear in an opposition camp with his finishing skills The crushing bit for Rinku would be that he smashed 69 not out in Indiarsquos last T20Imdashagainst Afghanistan on January 17 when India prevailed in the second Super Over at BangaloreRiyan Parag If RR find themselves perched at the top of the points table Paragrsquos consistent showing at No 4 has a lot to do with it In the opening game against Lucknow he smashed a 29ball 43 The more remarkable innings came against DC whose bowlers were taken for 84 in 45 balls post a 363 situationTushar Deshpande CSKrsquos Mumbai pacerrsquos 333 spell against KKR included the destructive Phil Salt Rinku Singh and Andre Russell The opposition were thus restricted to 137 which was surpassed by the 18th over More recently Deshpande claimed 427 to help bowl out Hyderabad for 134 after Chennai scored 212 Deshpande sent back openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma as well as onedrop Anmolpreet Singh Skipper Pat Cummins too fell to DeshpandeMukesh Kumar After going wicketless in his last two T20Is against Afghanistan earlier in the year Mukesh Kumar has performed creditably in the IPL for DC All his threewicket bursts against CSK GT and MI resulted in wins for the Rishabh Pantled side R Ashwin believes Mukesh can be the next Mohd Shami and how great that will be for IndiaMayank Yadav LSGrsquos pace sensation made people get up and take notice of his speed He has impressed the likes of Stuart Broad and sure can impress more in this alternate pack Some in MI felt the heat of his sharp short stuff on Tuesday but reportedly he is injured againYash Thakur A fifer against GT to hand LSG their third consecutive win in a row on April 7 when they beat GT for the first time in five attempts underlined Yashrsquos ability to make it count Mayank Yadav had limped off with a side strain Yash saw the opportunity and pounced on it Those who had watched him give it his all during the Ranji Trophy final six in the game against Mumbai in March werenot surprisedR Ashwin Unlike the Agarkarselected bunch this team has an offspinner And who better than R Ashwin although he is better known for his Test match exploits He is not the quickest in the field but in my opinion although fielding is critical too much is made of that socalled disadvantage Would any batsman relish the thought of facing Ashwin albeit in a T20 gameVarun Chakravarthy The leggie canrsquot claim he has been very consistent for KKR this season but he has claimed 11 wickets so far and has had to cope with some ldquovery placidrdquo tracks Both his threewicket bursts have come against DC who were beaten by the twotime champions Chakravarthy figured in the 2021 T20 World CupRavi Bishnoi LSGrsquos legbreak bowler hasnrsquot exactly tormented sides in the IPL but there was talk of him being discussed for the T20 World Cup team despite more illustrious spinners in the fray He makes this team because he has the ability to impress After all he was ICCrsquos No1ranked T20 bowler after claiming nine wickets in five games against Australia last yearmiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper