BCCI announces Team India's squad for T20 World Cup
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced Team India's squad for the men's T20 World Cup. Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, and Varun Chakravarthy have been included in the 15-member squad. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is a notable inclusion. Notably, the T20 WC is set to be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman from October 17 to November 14.
India's squad for T20 WC
India's squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), 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.
Ashwin returns to limited-overs fold
Off-spinner R Ashwin is a surprise inclusion in Team India's T20 World Cup. The senior player last played a T20 International in July 2017, against the West Indies. Ashwin led Punjab Kings in the 2018 and 2019 editions of IPL. He then moved to Delhi Capitals. Ashwin has picked up 10 or more wickets in 2018, 2019 as well as 2020.
Yuzvendra Chahal, Shikhar Dhawan miss out
Surprisingly, the selectors have dropped Yuzvendra Chahal, who is deemed India's front-line leg-spinner in white-ball cricket. They have instead placed their trust in mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy. The exclusion of senior opener Shikhar Dhawan is another surprise. He recently led India in the white-ball leg in Sri Lanka. Dhawan is presently the leading run-scorer of the IPL 2021 with 380 runs.
A look at India's schedule
India will open their T20 World Cup campaign against Pakistan on October 24. The Kohli-led side will then take on New Zealand on October 31 (Dubai), Afghanistan on November 3 (Abu Dhabi), the first-placed Round 1 qualifier from Group B on November 5 (Dubai), and the second-placed Round 1 qualifier from Group A on November 8 (Dubai).
