India T20 World Cup Squad Announcement: Possible Playing XI for the opening fixture

The excitement has been build up around the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup. The Indian team with an experience of playing in the world’s biggest cricket league, IPL have been touted as the contenders once again along with strong teams like England and West Indies. The tournament will be played in United Arab Emirates and Oman.

The conditions have been assisting the spinners in UAE and is expected to behave the same way in the T20 World Cup as well. Also, the pitches will not be fresh, as the IPL will end just a week before the ICC event. Therefore, the Indian squad will be selected according to the pitch beahviour and ground dimensions as well.

Possible Playing XI of India for Opening fixture

Here is the Possible Playing XI for India’s opening fixture of the T20 World Cup 2021. The Indian team will play against Pakistan in their first fixture of the T20 World Cup 2021. The Indian team is expected to play with three seamers, Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar, and Hardik Pandya, while Jadeja can be accomodated to strengthen the batting department.

Possible Playing XI

1. Rohit Sharma
2. KL Rahul
3. Virat Kohli
4. Suryakumar Yadav
5. Ishan Kishan
6. Rishabh Pant
7. Hardik Pandya
8. Ravindra Jadeja
9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar
10. Rahul Chahar/ Ravichandran Ashwin
11. Jasprit Bumrah

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In the batting department, Rohit is the first-choice opener, along with KL Rahul. At no.3 and no.4 will be Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav. While, it will be Ishan Kishan at no.5 slot. The next batters will be Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya who will look to finish the innings well. While, Rahul Chahar or Ashwin will be the second spin option depending upon the IPL form.

Chief Selector’s Rationale behind Ashwin’s inclusion

The leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was dropped from the T20I squad, which came as a shock to the Indian cricket fans. In place of him, Ravichandran Ashwin has been chosen as a spin-bowling option along with Rahul Chahar. The Chief selector explained the reason of including Ashwin in the squad.

Related: T20 World Cup Squad: MS Dhoni to join Team India as a mentor

“Ravichandran Ashwin has been playing in the IPL regularly. He has performed well there. When you go into the World Cup, you need an off-spinner, everyone has an idea that the wickets in the UAE will get slower as IPL will also be played there. Spinners will get assistance so having an off-spinner holds the key.

India’s T20 World Cup 2021 Squad: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohd Shami.

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