The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday has announced India’s much-awaited squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021. A series of surprise players have been included by the Indian cricket board for the showpiece event.
Swashbuckling opener Shikhar Dhawan has been axed from the squad while KL Rahul has been chosen as Rohit Sharma’s opening partner. Shreyas Iyer, who has just recovered from his shoulder injury has also been omitted from the setup, however, he has been named as a standby player.
Apart from the regular names in the T20 fixture, the board has included a few fresh faces on the side. The most anticipated name Suryakumar Yadav is present in the squad along with wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan.
In a surprise addition, Ravichandran Ashwin has found his place in the T20I squad. Ashwin played his last T20I match against West Indies in 2017 and since then the spinner is out of the setup of the shortest format.
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Young Indian pace sensation Mohammad Siraj is also not picked for the marquee event while the pace attack will be held by Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami. Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur has been kept as a standby player.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been appointed as the mentor of India for the tournament by the BCCI.
India’s T20I World Cup 2021 Squad:
Squad: 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.
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