Former India captain, MS Dhoni has been named as the mentor of India cricket team for the T20 World Cup, starting October 17 in the UAE and Oman. Varun Chakravarthy, who has only featured in one series in the T20Is against Sri Lanka this July has been added to the squad. There were plenty of surprises as India picked a spin-dominant side considering the spin-friendly conditions in the UAE.
In the bowling department, Jasprit Bumrah joins the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami. In spinners, R Ashwin, who last played a T20I in July 2017 against the West Indies is back in the T20I setup. He will feature alongside Varun Chakravarthy, Rahul Chahar, Axar Patel, and Ravindra Jadeja.
Deepak Chahar, who has the ability to swing the ball in the powerplay has been named as a traveling reserve. Along with Thakur, who has been enjoying a glorious English summer, and Shreyas Iyer. Shikhar Dhawan, who recently captained the limited-overs side in Sri Lanka, has also been left out. The biggest surprise is the exclusion of Yuzi Chahal, who has been India’s key bowler in the T20Is for the last few years.
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami. These ten players were already confirmed in the squad we can assume for the T20 World Cup. So the battle was for the last four spots. And Ashwin, Axar, Varun, Rahul Chahar, Ishan Kishan has made it to the 15-member squad for the remaining four slots.
India will begin their campaign against Pakistan on Oct 24
India will start their campaign against the arch-rivals Pakistan in Group 2 on October 24 in Dubai. Team India is placed in group B alongside Pakistan, Afghanistan, and New Zealand. They take on their arch-rivals Pakistan on October 24 in Dubai. India will play New Zealand and Afghanistan on October 31 (Dubai) and November 3 (Dubai) respectively.
India’s squad for T20 World Cup
Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (VC), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohd Shami.
Standby players – Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar.
