(Cricket news) Team India are about to start their preparations for the T20 World Cup in the UAE. Captain Virat Kohli along with Coach Ravi Shastri and Mentor MS Dhoni will be hoping to end India's ICC trophy drought. India have a squad of 15 players with 3 standbys and 8 net bowlers. The selectors have made a few questionable decisions but now all the attention turns on what should be the Playing XI selection.
India's ideal playing XI:
KL Rahul
After having an unsuccessful T20I series against England, the Karnataka batter had another very good IPL with the Punjab Kings. The selection is a no brainer as Rahul was the 3rd highest scorer in the IPL despite playing only 13 matches.
Rohit Sharma
Sharma didn't have the best of season's with Mumbai Indians in the IPL but he was still their highest run scorer. Rohit Sharma is a very important part of this Indian side both as a batter and as vice-captain. The opener will be hoping to continue his love affair with ICC tournaments and this time go one step further by actually winning the trophy.
Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli is an automatic selection in this side. Although the Indian captain opened the innings in the IPL and in India's last T20I game against England, it is tough to see him open for India especially when Rohit and Rahul are fully fit. Kohli has been India's top scorer in the last two T20 series. He will have extra motivation to do well as this will be the last time he captains in the T20 format.
Surya Kumar Yadav
Despite being out of form in the phase 2 of the IPL the batter scored an incredible 82 in the last game. His inclusion in the team will be a big positive if he gets going. SKY has already scored 139 T20I runs in just 4 games. Whether he plays at 3,4 or 5 remains to be seen.
Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant will almost certainly don the gloves for India. In his debut season as a captain for Delhi Capitals he led them to a 2nd place finish and did very well with the willow as well. Pant along with Jadeja is the only left hander in this XI assuming Ishan Kishan will be on the bench. He could bat anywhere between 3-6 depending on the situation.
Hardik Pandya
If Hardik Pandya was fit enough to bowl he would've been a sure shot selection but because he hasn't bowled a single ball in the last two IPL seasons his place in the side is up for debate because his batting form hasn't been that great in the 2021 IPL. Nevertheless even as a pure batter Pandya has done well in the past for India and the Mumbai Indians. Even though Shardul Thakur was bought in the squad in a last minute call, Pandya should keep his place in the side even if he isn't going to ball.
Also read: On this day in 1978 Kapil Dev made his Test debut against Pakistan
Ravindra Jadeja
Jadeja is another player whose position in the side is locked. The Saurashtra player adds value to the side in all three departments of the game. Jadeja has had another good IPL with the bat and the ball. Jadeja is the proper all-rounder in this side as the team will be expecting equal contribution in all three departments from him. Jadeja will definitely be the last batter in this Indian side.
Seamers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah
Bumrah is an automatic pick in the side and will definitely be Kohli's go to strike bowler. Bhuvneshwar swing bowling at the top and incredible death bowling ability will be a huge asset to the side. Shami has had a very underrated IPL campaign having taken 19 wickets at an economy of 7.50. It is almost guaranteed that Hardik Pandya will not be bowling therefore playing any less than 3 seamers is very unlikely. This of course means that Shardul Thakur will miss out. Thakur's last minute introduction just looks like a precautionary measure to add an extra pacer just in case. He could be used in the later stages if the team feels the need to have more batting power in the tail.
Varun Chakravarty
Out of the three specialist spinners Rahul Chahar has been out of the Mumbai team so his selection doesn't look likely. Varun Chakravarty will edge Ravichandran Ashwin in the side thanks to two wonderful IPL seasons with KKR. In the 2021 edition he took 18 wickets and had an economy of just 6.58. The mystery spinner along with Jadeja will be given the responsibility of minimising damage and picking up wickets in the middle overs. There have been a few reports about him struggling with a knee injury but that hasn't affected his performance in the playoffs and shouldn't affect his position in the team.
Bench: Ishan Kishan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Rahul Chahar.
Reserves: Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Axar Patel.
Net bowlers/Additional players: Avesh Khan, Umran Malik, Harshal Patel, Lukman Meriwala, Venkatesh Iyer, Karn Sharma, Shahbaz Ahmed and K. Gowtham
