T20 World Cup: Harsha Bhogle picks his 15-member India squad; Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul to open

T20 World Cup: Harsha Bhogle picks his 15-member India squad; Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul to open

Harsha Bhogle, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul

Cricket expert and commentator Harsha Bhogle has picked his 15-member squad of team India for the upcoming ICC 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE. He opted for Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul as the two openers along with three more specialist batsmen. Skipper Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav are confirmed in the lineup according to Bhogle with a toss-up between Shreyas Iyer or Ishan Kishan for the final spot. 

Interestingly, the 60-year-old left out veteran opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan from his squad for the much-awaited T20 WC. The southpaw has recently led the Indian team in the six-match limited-overs series against Sri Lanka.

Talking about the all-rounders, Bhogle went ahead with Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar. Just like Dhawan, Baroda cricketer Krunal Pandya also couldn’t make it to this squad. The wicket-keeper’s position was grabbed by Rishabh Pant while Rahul can play the role of the stand-by keeper because Sanju Samson wasn’t there as well.

No place for Kuldeep Yadav in Bhogle’s 15-member squad

Kuldeep Yadav
Kuldeep Yadav

Harsha Bhogle picked just two specialist spinners which consisted of rookie Varun Chakravarthy and Yuzvendra Chahal. India’s sixth-highest wicket-taker in the T20Is (41 scalps) Kuldeep Yadav was not there owing to his inconsistent performance of late. 

In the pace department, he confirmed three regular fast bowlers which included Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Jasprit Bumrah. Lastly, he mentioned that there will be a toss-up between T Natarajan and Mohammed Shami for the ultimate position in the squad.

Harsha Bhogle’s Indian squad for T20 World Cup 2021

Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (C), Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer/Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami/T Natarajan, Yuzvendra Chahal

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