Img credit: BCCI
India T20 world cup 2021 squad preview
Virat kohli(C)
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
Mohammad Shami
Stand-by players:
Shreyas Iyer
Deepak Chahar
Shardul Thakur
So the BCCI has now announced the squad of team India for the upcoming men's T20 world cup 2021 which is going to take place in UAE.
This squad has recieved mixed reviews from the fans and the media from the day it was announced because it saw the return of some key players after a while and saw some of the big names missing. So let's breakdown the squad…..
Top Order:
Kl Rahul and Rohit Sharma have been picked as the Indian openers and I feel they are the right choice provided that they are the only 2 batsmen in this current squad who have international T20i centuries under their belt.
Virat Kohli, the skipper will be India's no.3 and will be batting in his usual place but we might see him open the innings alongside Rohit if the management decides to play Kl in the middle order but for now that seems less likely to happen.
Then at no.4 we have India's new batting star from Mumbai who is none other than Suryakumar Yadav. He has been going through a purple patch since 2019, we've seen him in the ipl and then make his india debut against England at home and then in Srilanka where he made his odi debut. He has been playing good cricket consistently for a while and deserves that spot in the side more than anyone else. He can also bat at no.3 like he did in the T20 series against England at home when virat was opening the innings with Rohit. But he has been picked as India's no.4 for now and I strongly believe that he will play some memorable innings in this tournament.
The floater:-
I'm mentioning Ishan Kishan separately here because if he plays he'll be playing as a floater in the team he can open the innings bat at 3,4 or 5 depending on where the team wants him. We've seen him do that for Mumbai Indians and then in the recent Srilanka tour. He is an explosive batsman, he can give you quick starts at the top or come down the order in the middle over phase and can dominate the spin bowlers. So Ishan Kishan has a special role in this side he's team India's Floater.
Middle order:
Team India's performance in this world cup will hugely depend on how the middle order performs. This will be India's first T20 world Cup without MS Dhoni in the middle order, he was the main reason why no one was ever concerned about our middle order.
"Mahi hai toh fir kya tension hai" -
but That won't be the case this
time around. But all the fans
reading this don't feel sad
because he'll be traveling with the
team as mentor, which is a big
positive and I don't think that
need to explain why is he
important in that role but I'll
say one important reason which
is EXPERIENCE- of winning big
tournaments.
So coming on to the middle order for this world cup we have Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya. The young middle order will have to make a nice contribution consistently if india needs to win big matches in the tournament because a middle order not only has the responsibility of finishing the matches during a chase but also putting up a big first innings score for the bowlers to defend. The matches are in UAE there are big grounds in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and we know when these to get going there is no ground in the world big enough to stop these two from hitting those monster 6's. So they need to up their game a notch if india wants to get their hand on the trophy.
Ravindra Jadeja is one of the experienced players he'll know his role in this team. In the recent ipl we have seen Dhoni promote Jadeja up the middle order at 4 or 5 and we have seen him perform there. He knows his way around with the bat and I think that he should do well whenever he gets the opportunity.
Bowlers:-
Spinners:
IT'S THE RETURN OF RAVI ASHWIN
-So he'll be leading India's spin
bowling group. He is a smart
cricketer and has also captained
an ipl franchise so he knows how
to deal with pressure and bowl in
tough situations . He has a bag full
of variations and that will come in
use at those big grounds and also
at Sharjah. I'm sure all of you
readind this are as happy as I am
on the return of Ashwin and will
hope that he'd do well.
Majestic Rahul :-
Rahul Chahar will have a lot of expectations on his shoulders because he has come in place of India's prime leg spinner Y.Chahal. Rahul Chahar has earned his spot in the side and deserves to be there but now since he is the only leg spinner he has to take wickets and Bowl economically. The selectors made a statement that he has been chosen because he bowls quicker through the air and can turn the ball with that speed and this will be effective while playing in both the big grounds and Sharjah. So he'll be a nice addition to the 11.
The Architect:-
Varun Chakravarthy the mystery bowler. I feel that he'll be an asset to the team , a trump card he hasn't played much international cricket apart from a few seasons of ipl and the Srilanka tour where he made his debut recently. So the world hasn't seen him bowl much so he'll be the surprise package. He alongside Ashwin and chahar will be fun to watch. All 3 of them bring in so much variety to the squad. Each of them have a command over their stock balls and variations.
Now the question is can he be the
ARCHITECT behind India's win?
The Powerful Arm :-
Axar Patel is the last spinner in this list. I don't see him starting in the 11 but he is also a smart bowler. We last saw him in the test series against England where he was having 5fers for breakfast and giving the English batsman a hard time. He'll be a backup option most likely for Jadeja but might step in if the team needs him.
The extravaganza:-
Jadeja the allrounder will be needed if the team wants to win. He needs to bowl those quick overs without giving away much runs and if he takes wickets in the process then it's a bonus.
The ash-jadeja duo is back!!
Pacers:
Yorker Specialist:-
Jasprit Bumrah will be leading the pace attack. He is coming off a successful England tour where he showed off his white ball skills in the longer format taking wickets in Yorkers and the slower ball wicket. He'll need to manage his work load in the ipl in order to be fully fit for the world cup, he'll surely know that the country is hoping to watch a bumrah special tournament.
Swing King :-
Just like Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is making a comeback to the side. His return is enormous for the team, he has won two purple caps in the ipl, we all know about his ability to swing the ball upfront inthe powerplay and his death bowling is as good as it can be.
He has been chosen over Deepak
Chahar who has been doing well constantly but as a fan I have faith
Bhuvi's abilities and feel that the selectors have made the right call.
The Mix:-
Now Mohammad Shami has been improving as a white ball bowler right now. He took a hat-trick against Afghanistan in the 2019 ODI world cup and then his fantastic Yorker display in the double super over against MI in the previous ipl. It will be interesting to see that if he gets to start alongside Bumrah or will it be Bhuvi who plays in front of him.
All Rounder :-
Now the allrounder who will bowl pace if the skipper feels necessary is Hardik Pandya. The selectors have made it clear that he is fit enough to bowl his full quota of overs. So he will be helpful if he could chip in with some overs and take a few wickets.
Extras:-
Shreyas Iyer was left out because he had been away from cricket because of his injury but he is there in the mix and if he bats well in this IPL. He will be there right around knocking on the door to get back in the side. I'm sure he will get back into the side soon enough because he's a quality batsman.
Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur are the two bowlers who can bat are the other two stand by players. They could have surely been in their in place of Axar Patel maybe but the selectors felt that the world cup will be taking place after ipl at the same venues so the pitches might get tired and slow down and assist the spinners a little more than the seamers so they went with Axar. But I feel that the grounds are big (leaving Sharjah ofcourse) so the square contains enough pitches and they should be almost equidistant from the boundaries so ICC can keep a few pitches reserved for the world cup. But only time will tell , all I can say is it's a pretty good squad which should be able to make it to the knockout stages quite comfortably and do well in the tournament.
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