Former Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan has named India’s 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup in which he has left out players like Shikhar Dhawan, Kuldeep Yadav and Krunal Pandya. Dhawan has been in sublime form in the shortest format of the game, especially while playing for Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League.
Dhawan, who has increased his strike rate in the recent past, had scored 618 runs in IPL 2020 and had amassed 380 runs in eight matches of IPL 2021 before the tournament was postponed by the BCCI.
On the other hand, Kuldeep Yadav hasn’t been in the best of forms in the recent past but performed decently on the tour of Sri Lanka in the limited-overs series.
Meanwhile, Zaheer Khan picked KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma to open the innings for India in the T20 World Cup. The former fast bowler wants Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav to bat at number three and four respectively. Khan wants Kohli to open the innings with Rohit Sharma if Hardik Pandya isn’t available to bowl.
Zaheer Khan said while talking to Cricbuzz, “I will open with KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma. Virat and Surya will follow them. I know Virat has made the statement that he wants to open the innings. But I would still say that Virat only opens in case Hardik is not available to bowl. In that scenario, you can sacrifice one batsman and get an extra bowler”.
Khan picked Yuzvendra Chahal as the lead spinner of the team whereas selected Rahul Chahar as the backup spinner. The former talisman pacer feels Varun Chakravarthy and Washington Sundar can bowl in the powerplay overs and will hold the key for the team. Zaheer added that Natarajan’s selection will depend on his fitness as he recently underwent a knee surgery.
“I have Chahal as the lead leg spinner and also went in with Rahul Chahar as his backup. In this format, we have seen that leg spinner is such a crucial factor. Chakravarthy/Sundar will be the spinners who will be bowling with the new ball. If you want that mystery element, you can choose Chakravarthy, but otherwise, you can go in with Sundar as well,” said Zaheer Khan.
15-man Squad of India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Rahul Chahar, T Natarajan/Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Washington Sundar/Varun Chakravarthy
