Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Siraj included as Reetinder Sodhi names India’s squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2021

There has been a lot of hullaballoo over what should be India’s ideal squad for the ICC World Cup later this year. Barring the 2-1 defeat against Sri Lanka recently, the Men in Blue have been on a roll in T20 Internationals and also are one of the favourites to clinch the global event this year. However, the national selectors are going have a tough time while picking the final squad with several potent players in the mix.

If one has to summarize the issue, India are spoiled for choices. To ease out the selectors’ dilemma, many experts have announced their preferred crop of players for the T20 World Cup. Former Indian all-rounder Reetinder Sodhi is the latest to join the bandwagon. Sodhi highlighted that experience at the highest level should be taken into account while selecting the team.

Youngsters should be backed by experience: Reetinder Sodhi

“My opinion is you can take the youngsters but they have to be backed by experience because there will be a lot of adrenaline rush in this tournament and only experienced players can handle the pressure,” Sodhi said in a conversation with India News.

While Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul were Sodhi’s first-choice openers, he picked Shikhar Dhawan over Ishan Kishan as the reserve opener. “Shikhar Dhawan on experience. We need experience for a mega event, the T20 World Cup. Ishan Kishan is a very talented player but I feel Shikhar Dhawan can prove to be more useful. So you take him as a reserve opener and get KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma to open,” he said.

With Suryakumar Yadav doing exceptionally well lately, many believe he should feature in the World Cup instead of Shreyas Iyer. However, Sodhi believes both batters should feature in the showpiece tournament. Mohammed Siraj is another surprise name in the former cricketer’s team.

“If we talk about bowlers, Mohammed Siraj has set the stage on fire. He bowls amazingly well and has the experience as well. If we talk about Shreyas Iyer, he is a match-winner. He has played international cricket and won innumerable matches in the IPL,” the 40-year-old asserted.

Reetinder Sodhi’s preferred Indian squad for the T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

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