Fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel have recovered from their respective injuries and have been included in India’s all-star World T20 squad announced by the BCCI on Monday. Originally expected to be announced towards the end of this week, the selectors met on the afternoon of September 12 to finalize the squad of 15 that will represent the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team at the ICC mega event from October 16 in Australia. Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Shreyas Iyer and Deepak Chahar were named as the four reserve players.
Bumrah and Harshal, who both missed the Asia Cup with back injuries and side strains, are back to bolster the under-fire attack. The two were undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and the selectors, after a thorough evaluation, decided that both pacers were fit enough to feature for India in their bid to lift the T20 World Cup for the second time. Bumrah and Harshal will also feature in India’s six-match T20I series against Australia and South Africa at home from September 20 – a preliminary for the team to combine properly – to get much-needed match practice before flying to Australia.
Bumrah and Harshal returning to the fray means Avesh Khan, who fell ill during the Asia Cup, is not in the reckoning. The two quicks will be partnered in the pace department by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh, who were both in the limelight for India at the Asia Cup. Also returning to the fold is Shami, a surprise call-up considering he hasn’t played a T20 for India since last year’s World Cup. Shami’s exclusion from India’s Asia Cup squad has been widely criticized by commentators and pundits alike, but it seems the selectors haven’t completely given up on him just yet.
The room for experimentation ends here with India unveiling a buffer group. The top order is picked by skipper Rohit himself, who is opened by KL Rahul, followed by Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya in the middle order candidates. Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik are the two chosen wicketkeepers, meaning the ax will fall on Sanju Samson. Meanwhile, there were reports that Samson might be picked over Pant, but that was always a huge prediction. Pant is a left-hander and the prospect of batting on Australia’s bouncy pitches made the decision easier, and while his T20I record hasn’t been the best in recent times, letting a talent like Pant go was just not a risk the selectors, captain Rohit or coach Rahul Dravid were willing to take undergo.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who was expected to suffer a knee injury recently, did not make the cut, but the team would hope Axar Patel fills the gap. Moving on to the all-rounders, the leadership of the team has stuck with Deepak Hooda despite his recent string of failures. After missing out on last year’s T20 World Cup, Yuzvendra Chahal will lead India’s spin attack along with veteran R Ashwin. Chahal has been in excellent form in Australia and given the form he has been in since his return to the limited-overs side, picking up 19 wickets in 16 matches, the leg-spinner’s inclusion was a complete no-brainer.
Ashwin, meanwhile, could feature in just 10 T20Is for India from the start of 2021, it is believed that the management has enough confidence in him with his experience. Having said that, who Ashwin and Axar partner Chahal will make for an interesting toss-up, assuming a second spinner is required. Clearly, the think tank feels that having three spinners in the team is the way to go and Ashwin’s batting could have played a significant role in the same.
Ideally, the BCCI would name up to three players as reserves, but was equally prudent with four reserve players. Deepak Chahar, who recently returned to senior cricket after being injured in the Zimbabwe ODIs, has performed quite well in three matches. Chahar, who came in as a replacement for the ill Avesh, bowled four overs against Afghanistan but remained wicketless.
Bishnoi’s inclusion in the line-up was expected, simply because the world hasn’t seen much of him and how he fooled Pakistan captain Babar Azam in India’s recent Asia Cup match, but doubts about his effectiveness in Australia are likely to have tipped the scales in Ashwin’s favour. The only labeled batsman on the list, Iyer has lost his mojo since the 1950s hat-trick against Sri Lanka in February, but the fact that he hasn’t been completely dropped means he still remains in India’s scheme of things. Indian IPL sensation as well as young fast bowler Umran Malik failed to secure a place in the team.
India T20 World Cup Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
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