Bench-warmers' playing 11 from 2024 T20 World Cup ft. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson
2024 T20 World Cup is done and dusted. The mega event took place last month in the United States and West Indies. 20 teams participated in the mega event, with India emerging as the champions.
India defeated first-time finalists South Africa in an edge of the seat thriller to become the new world champions. England and Afghanistan were the other two teams that qualified for the semifinals, while Australia, Bangladesh, USA and West Indies were eliminated in the Super 8s.
It was a memorable tournament for cricket fans, and now that the tournament has ended, here's a playing XI of such players who were in their country's squads for 2024 T20 World Cup but did not get a single game.
Openers - Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ben Duckett
The left-handed duo of India's Yashasvi Jaiswal and England's Ben Duckett will open the batting for this team. Jaiswal was in phenomenal touch in T20Is before the 2024 T20 World Cup, but India preferred Virat Kohli as Rohit Sharma's opening partner over him.
Meanwhile, England played with the opening pair of Phil Salt and Jos Buttler in all games. Ben Duckett, who has scored 315 runs in 12 T20Is at a strike rate of 145.16, was on the bench for all the games.
Middle Order - Sanju Samson (wk), Josh Inglis, Shimron Hetmyer, Nisarg Patel and Saqib Zulfiqar
Indian wicketkeeper Sanju Samson will don the gloves behind the stumps for this team. Samson's highest score in T20is is 77, but India chose Rishabh Pant as wicketkeeper in all games.
Australian wicketkeeper Josh Inglis had to watch all the games from the sidelines because of Matthew Wade's presence. Meanwhile, West Indies surprisingly kept big-hitter Shimron Hetmyer on the bench for all the matches in the 2024 T20 World Cup.
USA's Nisarg Patel and Netherlands' Saqib Zulfiqar complete the middle-order of this team. Patel is a left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder, with 115 runs and 27 wickets to his name, but USA did not give him a game. Meanwhile, Zulfiqar's 34 runs and two wickets in six T20Is did not convince the Dutch team management to give the leg-spin bowling all-rounder a game.
Bowlers - Graham Hume, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rishiv Joshi and Fareed Ahmad
Three pacers and one leg-spinner form the bowling attack of this 2024 T20 World Cup benched XI. India's Yuzvendra Chahal is the leading wicket-taker in the IPL, but the leg-spinner did not get a chance to play in the tournament. Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel formed India's spin attack during the competition.
The pace attack of this lineup will be led by Afghanistan's Fareed Ahmad. Despite a stunning display in the bilateral T20I series against India earlier this year, left-arm pacer Fareed was on Afghanistan's bench for the entire tournament.
Ireland's right-arm pacer Graham Hume and Canada's left-arm medium pacer Rishiv Joshi complete the playing XI. Joshi has five wickets in seven T20Is, but Canada did not give him any opportunities to play at the grand stage. Meanwhile, Hume has five wickets in six T20Is. However, even he stayed on Ireland's bench for the 2024 T20 World Cup.