Senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin returned to India’s white-ball squad after four years when he was included in the 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup along with the fast-rising trio of Ishan Kishan, Axar Patel and Varun Chakraborty.
Suryakumar Yadav, a 30-year-old Mumbai batsman, was also included in the team, who is making a name for himself for his power-hitting.
Biggest Surprise – No D Chahar and Chahal. Missing: Dhawan did everything he could to lay claim to the role. Consistency and excellent SR. Hard Mistakes Varun’s story is unbelievable. Being part of a WC team under MS, Kohli and Ashwin will be a dream come true. # T20 World Cup— Gaurav Sundararaman (@gaurav_sundar) September 8, 2021
The 34-year-old last played white-ball cricket for India in 2017 before being ruled out of one-day cricket after the Champions Trophy. However, he continued to perform in the IPL apart from leading India’s spin attack in Test cricket. Kishan (23) and Chakraborty (30) have been rewarded for their consistent performances in the IPL and have also been impressed by the few opportunities they have got with the Indian team.
The T20 World Cup is starting from October 17 in the UAE and Oman. Among the big names who were dropped were opener Shikhar Dhawan and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. Rahul Chahar has been preferred over Chahal, who was a definite fixture in India’s limited overs squad till now. Dhawan has been picked as the three openers with KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Kishan.
Talking about the team, chief selector Chetan Sharma said: “Ashwin is an asset. He did well in the IPL and we needed a player with his experience. We need an off-spinner with Washington (Sundar) injured. “Ashwin is the only off-spinner in the team. Varun is a mystery spinner who is an amazing package to the world.”
Sharma also said that all-rounder Hardik Pandya is “absolutely fit and will bid for his overs.”
India has selected a spin heavy team for the T20 World Cup. 15 have five slow bowlers and only three specialist fast bowlers. Looks like the XI plans to play with 3 spinners. MS Dhoni will be the mentor of the team. His first match is against Pakistan in Dubai on October 24. – Mazhar Arshad (@MazherArshad) September 8, 2021
India has selected a spin heavy team for the T20 World Cup. 15 have five slow bowlers and only three specialist fast bowlers. Looks like the XI plans to play with 3 spinners. MS Dhoni will be the mentor of the team. His first match is against Pakistan in Dubai on October 24. – Mazhar Arshad (@MazherArshad) September 8, 2021
“We have picked Rahul Chahar in place of Yuji because we wanted someone to bowl fast and get the pace off the pitch,” Sharma said.
Akshar has been selected as the backup of all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.
Others who did not find a place in the main team were Prithvi Shaw and Shreyas Iyer.
Iyer, however, has made the list of standbys along with Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar. Thakur has been in terrific form and has already given a lucrative performance in the ongoing Test series against England.
Nice to see Ash back, his experience is priceless. I would have also picked two wrist spinners keeping the circumstances in mind. Best wishes to the players selected in the Indian team for the T20 World Cup. I feel for Shardul, Shreyas and Deepak, but it’s the same. – Irfan Pathan (@irfanpathan) September 8, 2021
India will start their T20 World Cup campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on 24 October.
Squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice captain), 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, Mohammed Shami.
Standby players: Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar.
(with PTI inputs)
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