The World T20 2021 is all set to kick-start in the later half of this year, October and November. The original edition of the T20 World Cup, which was supposed to be played in 2020, has been postponed due to Covid-19 Pandemic. The 2021 edition will likely be played in UAE or India. India recently played a T20I series against England where they tried many combinations regarding experiments for the T20 World Cup.
India did experiment in opening combination, middle order, spin bowlers and tried several youngsters in place of main pace bowlers. Although they still managed to win that five-match T20I series by 3-2 without their main bowlers, this shows the depth India has for limited-overs cricket matches.
In this article, we are going to discuss the predicted World T20 2021 15-man squad for Indian Team.
Openers
Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul
Rohit Sharma has been a certain option as far as opening position is concerned. He will be one of the main two openers in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021. Rohit Sharma is a stand-out performer for India in all formats of the game.
KL Rahul had a horrible T20I series against England where the Karnataka opener didn’t get double figures in all four T20Is he played. He will have the remaining leg of IPL 2021 before the T20 World Cup to show his worth in this format.
Shikhar Dhawan will be the reserve opener in this T20 World Cup 2021. Shikhar Dhawan scored two hundred in IPL 2020 and Shikhar Dhawan was the highest run-scorer in IPL 2021 with 358 runs in 8 matches with an average of 54.
Middle Order
Surya Kumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli is certain to play in middle order along with Surya Kumar Yadav. However, Virat Kohli mentioned before the England series that he will open in IPL 2021 to prepare for WT20 as there are chances that Virat Kohli might open for India in WT20.
Surya Kumar Yadav performed brilliantly in the debut series against England and cemented his spot in the middle order of the Indian team.
Ishan Kishan also scored 50 on their T20I debut for India, as he will be certain to take his place as a backup middle-order batsman for the Indian Squad of T20 World Cup 2021. Ishan Kishan is a left-handed batsman so he can be used as a floater in the middle order. Shreyas Iyer will also remain in the scheme of things for the T20 World Cup but his availability will be dependent on his fitness as the middle-order batsman is out of the team due to a shoulder injury.
Wicket-Keeper
Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant will be the first-choice wicketkeeper for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021. He played some enormous cricket in the last 8 months and cemented his place in all formats of the game. The left-handed attacking opener will play the role of finisher for the Indian Team in the World Cup 2021. As far as the backup wicket-keeping option is concerned, KL Rahul can keep the wickets in the absence of Rishabh Pant.
All-Rounders
Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja
Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja will be the all-Rounders for the T20 World Cup 2021. Hardik Pandya will play as a seam-bowling all-rounder and Ravindra Jadeja will play as a spin-bowling all-rounder in the starting playing XI. Hardik Pandya is focusing on his fitness as the pace bowling all-rounder wants to be completely fit before this major tournament.
Ravindra Jadeja won the T20 series in Australia and showed his brilliance with the bat in the first leg of IPL 2021 as he smashed 37 runs in a single over against RCB.
Bowlers
Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami
Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar will play the role of spin bowlers along with all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. Washington Sundar can also bowl in powerplay overs with the new ball. As the upcoming T20 World Cup will be played in spin-friendly conditions, India might play with three spinners in some games. However, Selectors will also keep an eye on the performance of Krunal Pandya and Varun Chakraborty in the upcoming series against Sri Lanka and the second of the IPL. Bhuvneshwar Kumar made a remarkable comeback against England but his fitness will be concerned before this major tournament.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami are match winners for India in any format of the game. However, Shami can be a backup option in the bowling section. Deepak Chahar is an emerging T20 star from Indian pace bowling. He also has a hat-trick against Bangladesh which shows his worth in this format of cricket.
India’s Predictable 15-man Squad for T20 World Cup 2021:
Virat Kohli(c), Rohit Sharma(vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Surya Kumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant(wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Deepak Chahar.
