With the 2022 edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup barely a month away, cricket fans and experts have started picking their first-choice playing XI for different teams.
Recently, former pacer Ashish Nehra joined the bandwagon and named his 15-member India squad for the marquee event in Australia.
Nehra began by picking the Indian openers and made it clear that he would like to see KL Rahul at the top despite talks of his cautious batting approach.
“We still have a long way to go as far as the T20 World Cup is concerned, so I think we will see a lot from KL Rahul in the next six games,” he said when asked to justify his selection.
Nehra picked skipper Rohit Sharma as the other opener followed by Virat Kohli, who was India’s top run-getter in the Asia Cup 2022 with two fifties and a century. He then moved to the middle-order, naming Suryakumar Yadav as a certain pick.
“SKY should be in the eleven because you then have an alternative to Rishabh Pant. You can swap the two—on 4 or 5.”
He then went on to name Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja as all-rounders. With Jadeja recovering from a knee injury, his selection looks improbable as of now.
Nehra highlighted the importance of R Ashwin for the Indian team even though the veteran off-spinner hasn't played much T20I cricket in the recent past.
“Not only Chahal and Jadeja are important, even Ravi Ashwin is also important. Even if he plays, he can make an impact,” he said.
Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel and Jasprit Bumrah featured in Nehra’s squad as premier pacers. He decided against Pakistan Mohammed Shami and Deepak Chahar in the squad.
“One name, however, comes in my mind and that is Mohammad Shami. Being a Test specialist, he hasn’t attracted that much focus from the selectors. And I am not saying this because I saw him up and close in Gujarat Titans.”
Ashish Nehra’s 15-man India Squad for T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Dinesh Karthik, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Hooda.
(With CricketNext inputs)
