The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday (September 8) announced Team India’s 15-member squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, with off-spinner R Ashwin making a return to the white-ball squad and MS Dhoni being named as team mentor.
BCCI Secretary Jay Shah revealed the thinking behind appointing Dhoni, who led the country to T20 World Cup triumph in 2007.
"As far as Dhoni is concerned, I spoke to him when I was in Dubai," said Shah. "He was okay with the decision, and he agreed to be a mentor for team India, for the T20 World Cup only.
"I spoke to the captain (Virat Kohli) and vice-captain (Rohit Sharma) as well as Ravi Shastri (the head coach), and that’s why we reached the conclusion."
The biggest selection news was the inclusion of Ashwin. His last appearance in limited-overs cricket was way back in 2017.
The wrist-spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have been left out of the squad while Rahul Chahar and Varun Chakravarthy have made the cut.
Veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan, who led India in the limited-overs tour to Sri Lanka in July, has also been left out.
Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan, who have impressed one and all in a few opportunities this year, have been included in the squad while India opted for three specialist all-rounders in Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Akshar Patel. Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami make the squad as frontline pacers.
The Virat Kohli-led side will open their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai on October 24.
After the squad was revealed, the Indian cricket fraternity took to Twitter and shared their views.
Check out the reactions:
