BCCI announces India's 15-man squad for T20 World Cup 2021, MS Dhoni to join as mentor

The BCCI has announced India’s 15-man squad for the much-awaited upcoming T20 World Cup to be played in the UAE and Oman. There are not many surprises to the line-up with Virat Kohli set to lead India while Rohit Sharma will continue to be his deputy. Shikhar Dhawan who led the Men in Blue on the Sri Lanka tour in July hasn’t made it to the 15-man squad which makes it more than likely for KL Rahul to open the innings. Interestingly, MS Dhoni has been announced as team’s mentor for WC.

India have been clubbed in group 2 alongside arch-rivals Pakistan, New Zealand and Afghanistan while two more teams will be added after the qualifying round. As far as the squad is concerned, Suryakumar Yadav has been included following his much-awaited international debut against England earlier this year and then his impressive show in Sri Lanka as well.

Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya are the two all-rounders in the line-up both of whom can take the game away from the opposition in the death overs. It also remains to be seen if Pandya will be fit to bowl for the World Cup soon after the Indian Premier League (IPL) but he will anyways offer a lot with the bat for the team.

Ravi Ashwin gets a chance, Shikhar Dhawan omitted

The pace bowling attack comprises Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah while Ravi Ashwin will be the main spinner in the mega event. Rahul Chahar is also part of the squad along with Varun Chakravarthy.

India squad for T20 World Cup 2021: 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.

Team India’s complete schedule ICC T20 World Cup 2021:

24th October 2021: India vs Pakistan, 7:30 PM IST, Dubai

31st October 2021: India vs New Zealand, 7:30 PM IST, Dubai

3rd November 2021: India vs Afghanistan, 7:30 PM IST, Abu Dhabi

5th November 2021: India vs B1 (qualified team), 7:30 PM IST, Dubai

8th November 2021: India vs A2 (qualified team), 7:30 PM IST, Dubai