BCCI has announced the Indian T20 World Cup squad recently. The event will start on October 17th and will take place in UAE and Oman. It has been a while since India won an ICC event, and hence the pressure will be immense on the squad. Meanwhile, in the team that has been selected, there are a few surprises. In this article, we take a look at the 5 players who are unlucky to miss out on the Indian T20 World Cup squad. But before that, here is a glance at the squad:
Team India for the 2021 T20 World Cup: 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 for the 2021 T20 World Cup: Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar
1) Yuzvendra Chahal
Although Yuzvendra Chahal was out of form, he did pretty well when India toured Sri Lanka. That tour had guaranteed him a spot in the Indian T20 World Cup squad. He was considered by many as the leader of the spin attack. However, shockingly, Chahal has not found a place in the final squad. The selectors have mentioned that the team needed a leggie who could bowl fast, and hence, Rahul Chahar has been selected. R Ashwin will now act as the leader of the spin attack.
2) Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan was the captain of the team that toured Sri Lanka last month. He also looked in pretty decent form. Moreover, Dhawan has been one of India’s best batsmen in recent IPL campaigns. Yet, the southpaw has not got a chance in the Indian T20 World Cup squad. Dhawan usually does well in the ICC tournaments, and it was surprising that the selectors have not considered it. They have instead gone in with Ishan Kishan, who has had a terrific start to his international career.
3) T Natarajan
After T Natarajan impressed for Team India last year, many saw him as the ideal partner for Jasprit Bumrah in the T20I format. However, he had to endure an injury and this seems to have played a part in his exclusion from the World Cup. India lacks variety in the pace department, and Nattu could have offered it with his left-arm angle. However, the selectors have preferred the experienced trio of Bumrah, Bhuvi and Shami.
4) Shreyas Iyer (Standby Player)
Shreyas Iyer finds himself on the standby list but will consider himself unlucky for not making it to the main squad. Just a few months ago, Iyer was India’s designated No.4. He also had a few performances going in his favour. However, the emergence of Suryakumar Yadav and an injury has hampered Iyer’s chances.
5) Deepak Chahar (Standby Player)
Deepak Chahar is one of the best swing bowlers in India. He is known to pick wickets in the powerplay and has recently improved his performances in death. Deepak has also added decent batting skills to his armoury. Yet, he is not part of the final squad. He will be one of the standby players for Team India.
