A look at India’s 15-member T20 World Cup squad

PTI, Sep 9, 2021, 9:44 AM IST

Here is a look at India’s T20 World Cup squad that was announced by the BCCI on Wednesday.

India had won the inaugural edition in 2007 in South Africa under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has been roped in as mentor for the upcoming event starting October 17 in the UAE and Oman.

India will take on arch-rivals Pakistan in their opening match on October 24.

Virat Kohli (Captain): A captain who leads from the front with his aggressive on-field attitude, the 32-year-old Kohli is regarded as one of the best batsmen of the current generation. He has so far scored 3154 runs from 90 T20 International matches with an unbeaten 94 as his highest knock, averaging a staggering 52.65. Kohli has 28 fifties to his name in the shortest format.

Rohit Sharma: One of the finest white-ball exponents, Rohit Sharma is a stroke player, particularly known for his pull shot and is an attacking opener. The 34-year-old Nagpur-born right-hander has played a whopping 111 T20Is, scoring 2,864 runs, with 118 as his highest score and four centuries and 22 fifties under his belt. He can take any good attack to the cleaners on his day. He was also part of the team that lifted the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007.

KL Rahul: The formidable 29-year-old Karnataka batsman is an aggressive top-order batsman and can also keep wickets. In the 49 T20Is that he has played so far, he has scored 1,557 runs with an unbeaten 110 as his highest score. He also has two centuries and 12 fifties to his name in the shortest format.

Suryakumar Yadav: The 30-year-old Mumbai batsman is an attacking top-order batsman. He made his T20I debut earlier this year against England. The right-handed batsman has played three ODIs and scored 124 runs, while he has amassed 139 runs from 4 T20Is.

Risbhabh Pant: The pint-sized left-handed wicketkeeper- batsman is known for taking the opposition attack to task. The Haridwar-born 23-year-old has played 33 T20Is, scoring 512 runs with unbeaten 65 as his highest score. The Delhi player also has two fifties in the shortest format and is hailed as a game-changer.

Ishan Kishan: The diminutive Jharkhand player is a hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batsman. The left-handed batsman made his T20I debut in the series against England earlier this year and since then he has played three games, scoring 80 runs, with 56 as his highest score and one fifty to his name. The 23-year-old had also led India at the U-19 World Cup in 2016 in Bangladesh.

Hardik Pandya: A seam-bowling all-rounder, Hardik Pandya is a big-impact player, who is known for his six-hitting prowess. The 27-year-old Baroda all-rounder has played in 49 T20Is, scoring 484 runs with unbeaten 42 as his highest score. He has also grabbed 42 T20 international wickets with 4/38 as his best bowling figures.

Ravindra Jadeja: A spin-bowling all-rounder, the Saurashtra player is an experienced campaigner, who can turn the game on its head. The 32-year-old, a slow-left arm orthodox bowler, has played in 50 T20Is, amassing 218 runs, while taking 39 wickets. The elegant stroke-player can also perform the role of a finisher, which he did in one of the games in the last Australia series.

Mohammed Shami: India’s leading fast bowler who has played in all formats. Although he has been India’s impact bowler in the ODI and Test matches, the 31-year-old Shami has played in just 12 T20I matches from which he took 12 wickets with best figures of 3/38 and averaging 35.66.

Rahul Chahar: The 22-year-old Rajasthan leg-spinner is known for deceiving the batsmen and he made his T20I debut against the West Indies in 2019. So far, he has picked up seven wickets from five T20Is with 3/15 as his best bowling figures.

Ravichandran Ashwin: A wily old-fox, the ace Tamil Nadu off-spinner is an experienced campaigner. The 34-year-old, who made a comeback to the T20I side after four years, has 52 wickets from 46 matches with best bowling figures of 4/8. Ashwin has many weapons in his armour, the carrom ball being one of them.

Axar Patel: The 27-year-old slow-left arm orthodox bowler has nine wickets from 12 T20Is that he has played so far. A handy left-handed batsman, the Gujarat player can also chip in with the bat at the lower-order. Axar made his T20I debut against Zimbabwe at Harare in 2015 and last played in a T20I against England at Ahmedabad in March this year.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar: A deceptive swing bowler, Bhuvneshwar is an experienced campaigner, having player in 51 T20Is. The 31-year-old medium fast bowler has so far picked 50 wickets in T20Is with 5/24 as his best figures.

Jasprit Bumrah: Death overs specialist Jasprit Bumrah is known for his yorkers. The 27-year-old Gujarat pacer has 59 wickets from 50 T20I games and has played key role in many of India wins. He has best figures of 3/11 and is the go-to-man of skipper Virat Kohli in crunch situations.

Varun Chakravarthy: A mystery off-spinner, Varun Chakravarthy made his T20I debut against Sri Lanka earlier this year. The 30-year-old Tamil Nadu bowler has taken two wickets from 3 matches.