Team India make changes in 2021 T20 World Cup squad

Picture Credit: BCCI

With less than 4 days left for the start of T20 World Cup 2021, India have announced changes in their squad leading to the mega event. Notably, a few prominent names missed to make a cut into the 15-man and reserve players' list announced by the BCCI a month before. However, the resumption of the Indian Premier League 2021 forced the apex cricket body of India to revise the list and make the possible changes.

Among the other players, who were under the scanner, were Hardik Pandya and Varun Chakravarthy. While Hardik didn't bowl in the entire IPL 2021 as he is recovering from his back problem, Chakravarthy too suffered with his issues on his knee. Meanwhile, a return for Yuzvendra Chahal was also being speculated by many. In contrary to everyone's guess, a surprise change has come in the revised Indian squad as Shardul Thakur has replaced Axar Patel in the 15-member team. The left-arm orthodox, who was earlier included in the main team, has now been moved to reserves.

Here is the revised Indian squad for T20 World Cup:

Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami

Stand-by players: Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Axar Patel

Meanwhile, a few players have been added to help Team India in their preparations ahead of the games at the world event. Avesh Khan, Umran Malik, Harshal Patel, Lukman Meriwala, Venkatesh Iyer, Karn Sharma, Shahbaz Ahmed and Krishnappa Gowtham are the names.

MI's ouster good for Team India

It is worth noting that six of Mumbai Indians' players - Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Rahul Chahar and Jasprit Bumrah - are the ones who are in the revised Indian squad for the T20 World Cup in UAE and Oman. Given that IPL 2021 concludes on October 15, there was a very small gap for the World Cup-bound players to have rest. India are slated to play against Pakistan in the main event of the tournament on October 24, however, MI's ouster ensured that at least those five players of the IPL team could have an extra week to have rest and prepare themselves for the mega event.