T20 World Cup 2022: India's Best Playing XI for the tournament

The wait is finally over! India have announced a strong 15-member contingent for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia. The squad sees the ace-bowlers Harshal Patel and Bhuvneshwar Kumar back in the mix. The likes of Mohammed Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi and Deepak Chahar are among the standby players picked for the mega event. All 15 players are proven performers in the T20 circuit. It will be interesting what starting XI Rohit Sharma & Co. decides to go with. Let us look at what India's Best Playing XI can look like for the marquee tournament which is slated to happen in October. India's Best Playing XI for T20 World Cup 2022: 1. Rohit Sharma (C) Rohit Sharma is the commander-in-chief of the Indian team and his place on the side is a no-brainer. The 35-year-old is the highest run-getter in T20I cricket and has been a match-winner for the Men in Blue for a long time. Rohit has been instrumental in India’s change of batting ideology in T20I cricket. Under his reign, the Men in Blue adopted a fearless batting approach and the veteran batter has walked the talk with his aggressive batting. He has given India brisk starts and laid the foundation for others to follow. The Indian skipper is one of the sharpest minds in the T20 circuit. This is evident from the fact that he is the most successful captain in the Indian Premier League. Rohit is known to marshall his troops well and his captaincy prowess will be key in India’s World Cup campaign. 2. KL Rahul KL Rahul has been one of the consistent performers in the T20 circuit in the last couple of years. The Indian vice-captain has scored 2137 at a strike rate of 140.40 in the 66 matches played for the Men in Blue. Though the 30-year-old has not been amongst the runs after his comeback to cricket, he should be backed to partner Rohit in the global tournament given his exploits in the shortest format. In Rahul’s previous T20I innings, he scored a well-made half-century against Afghanistan at the Asia Cup and team management would hope the veteran batter builds on this going forward. The Australian conditions will aid seam bowling upfront and the onus will also be on Rahul along with Rohit to provide India a solid start. The ace-opener has sometimes been criticized for his slow starts and the star player would like to put that to rest in the global tournament. 3. Virat Kohli Virat Kohli has been India’s run machine across formats. Talking about T20Is, he has amassed 3712 runs in 109 T20Is at a strike rate of 138.09. The veteran batter has been key to India’s successful run in the shortest format for more than a decade. Kohli has been in a rich vein of form since he made his comeback to cricket in the Asia Cup 2022. He piled on 276 runs in 5 games at a strike rate of 147.59. The 33-year-old also ended his century drought with an astonishing 122* runs against Afghanistan. Kohli can shepherd the innings beautifully while the stroke-makers around him can take the bowling apart. The Indian ace-batter getting back amongst the runs is a great sign for the Men in Blue. 4. Suryakumar Yadav Suryakumar Yadav has been India’s prolific run-getter since he broke into the Indian T20I setup. He has made 34 appearances for the Men in Blue and scored 1045 at an incredible strike rate of 176.81. Suryakumar's addition to the Indian setup has added flexibility to the batting lineup. Generally a middle-order batter, the flamboyant batter has shown his worth as an opener and also as a finisher. The Mumbai batter can take the attack to the opposition from the first ball and is a vital member of the batting line-up. The 31-year-old batter has the ability to pierce any part of the ground and his ability to demolish bowling attacks with his stroke-play is second to none. The 360-degree batter’s hitting prowess was also on display at the recently concluded Asia Cup. 5. Hardik Pandya Hardik Pandya can be stated as one of the most important members of the Indian team. He is the only seam-bowling batting all-rounder in the squad and brings in the much-needed balance to the side. This year has seen an exponential rise in Hardik’s stocks be it as a batter, bowler, or leader. Hardik has shown that he can move up in the batting order and also play the role of a finisher with perfection. With the ball, the all-rounder is entrusted with the role of a middle-order enforcer who could trouble the opposition with his hard lengths. The successful captaincy stint with Gujrat Titans at IPL 2022 has added a spark of responsibility to the flamboyancy of the 28-year-old. Hardik is rated as one of the top all-rounders in white-ball cricket at the moment. His form will be crucial as the Men in Blue look to be the World T20 champions for the second time. 6. Dinesh Karthik Dinesh Karthik made a comeback for the ages with his stellar batting performance in IPL 2022. In the 16 outings for Royal Challengers Banglore (RCB), the wicket-keeper batter smashed 330 runs at an insane strike rate of 183.33. Courtesy of the remarkable IPL campaign, Karthik was drafted into the Indian side as a designated finisher. He has played some scintillating knocks for the Men in Blue since his return and should likely start for Rohit & Co. at the World Cup. The 37-year-old is of the Suryakumar mould and can play all across the ground. India seems to have struggled to finish games in the recently concluded Asian tournament and Karthik’s inclusion can fix the worries. 7. Axar Patel Axar Patel has been India’s main man to fill the Ravindra Jadeja void in the batting order and provides balance to the Indian team. Generally a bowling-all-rounder, the 28-year-old's batting skills have seen an upsurge in the past couple of months. Axar had a great campaign with the bat for his IPL team Delhi Capitals. He scored 182 runs at an outstanding strike rate of 151.67 and played as a finisher for his franchise. The improved batting display allows India to play the southpaw as a floater in case of favourable match-up. The Gujarat-born has also proved his worth in the international circuit. In the 32 matches for the Men in Blue, the ace all-rounder has accumulated 162 runs at a strike rate of 135.00. On the bowling front, he has taken 31 wickets at an economy of 7.33. 8. Harshal Patel Harshal Patel has been the death overs specialist for the Men in Blue. He made it to the national side on the back of impeccable performances for his IPL franchise RCB and has continued the good work in the international arena. Harshal’s inclusion gives Rohit the flexibility to use Jasprit Bumrah in the powerplay. The 31-year-old has been quite a canny customer and is known to fox batters with his change of pace. His mastery over the dipping yorker and several slower variations makes him a difficult bowler to score against. He has featured in 23 matches for India and has taken 26 wickets at an amazing economy of 9.20 given that he bowls the majority of the overs at the death. Also, Harshal is more than handy with the bat and his presence in the lineup increases the batting depth of the team. 9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar Bhuvneshwar Kumar is India’s wrecker-in-chief with the new ball. The Meerut-born is known to destroy batting line-ups with his swing and give his team an ideal start with the ball. The veteran bowler has made 79 appearances for India in the shortest format and taken 85 wickets at an economy of 7.02. Bhuvneshwar was sensational with the ball in the recently concluded Asian tournament and was the highest wicket-taker in the competition. India’s ‘king of swing’ is the most experienced bowler on the side and will have a vital role to play at the T20 World Cup. Though his death bowling stocks have seen a dip of late, Bhuvneshwar has been an impeccable death bowler in the past. The 32-year-old has many varieties of slower balls, knuckle ball, and a pin-point yorker in his arsenal. 10. Arshdeep Singh Arshdeep Singh, who has proven himself as a death-over specialist, has emerged as India's go-to death bowler along with Jasprit Bumrah. Arshdeep's promising trait is that he has also been delivering the goods with the new ball in the recent past. Arshdeep Singh played for the Punjab Kings in the IPL, and his impressive performances assisted him earn a call-up to India. He featured in 14 IPL games in 2022, taking ten wickets with an economy rate of 7.70. Arshdeep Singh has taken 19 wickets for India in the limited opportunities he has had, with an economy of just over eight. Arshdeep's performance in the T20 World Cup 2022 could make or break India's chances in the tournament. 11. Yuzvendra Chahal Yuzvendra Chahal has been a consistent performer with the ball for the Men in Blue in the T20Is. The ace spinner has taken 85 wickets for the Men in Blue in 69 matches at an economy of 8.12. Chahal has been India’s premier spinner and is tasked to take wickets at regular intervals. The wily spinner is known to strangle batters with his spin. Recently, he has shown his versatility to bowl at the death which gives skipper Rohit more options on the field. The 32-year-old is one of those bowlers who does not mind luring the batsmen with the flight, several of his wickets have come with the batsmen attempting to clear the fence. The big grounds of Australia will make Chahal more dangerous with the ball.

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T20 World Cup 2022: India's Best Playing XI for the tournament

BCCI announced India's 15-member squad for the World Cup on September 12.

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