Fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel returned to the Indian team for next month’s T20 World Cup in Australia after missing the Asia Cup because of injuries.
In the absence of Bumrah and Patel, India failed to qualify for the Asia Cup final after losing to eventual finalists Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Super 4 stage.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and left-arm fast bowler Arshdeep Singh, who both competed in the Asia Cup, are the other fast bowlers named in the 15-member squad.
India’s top four batters remained intact with captain Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, and Suryakumar Yadav.
Kohli scored prolifically in the Asia Cup on his return to international cricket after a six-week break. He finished the tournament with 276 runs in five matches that included his long-awaited international century against Afghanistan in the last match and also two half centuries.
Sharma, Rahul, and Suryakumar all had a below-par Asia Cup as they made one-half century each.
India preferred to go with allrounder Deepak Hooda to utilize his few overs of off spin in Australia in the absence of injured Ravindra Jadeja, who injured his knee during the Asia Cup and was ruled out of the T20 World Cup.
Hooda’s inclusion pushed Shreyas Iyer among the standbys that also include Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, and Deepak Chahar.
Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, and Ravichandran Ashwin cover the spinners’ base while both specialist wicketkeepers Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik also made it to the final 15.
India is scheduled to play two three-match T20 series against Australia and South Africa at home before it flies out to Australia.
Meanwhile, Sanju Samson was not considered for the global event, which didn’t go down well with his fans. They slammed the selectors and the BCCI for ignoring him once again.
“That’s why India doesn’t deserve to win any more wcs. Absolute politics going on benching the talents like Sanju Samson over shit hit-and-miss players like Pant. The feelings of every Sanju Samson fan right now,” one of the fans wrote.
“Sanju Samson’s career is destroyed by BCCI politics. His batting looks effortless & dangerous when he is on the song. BCCI is going to lose the service of a big player,” another fan slammed the BCCI.
“It truly hurts to see a player like him go through this. It’s not just that he’s “oh he’s always trending” on Twitter. He’s a bloody brilliant player who definitely worked extremely hard to utilize his chances. Hopefully someday.”
“Wow, apparently Sanju Samson still ain’t worthy. Still inconsistent uh? Still not aggressive uh? Still doesn’t put in the work uh? Still doesn’t know how to lead a team uh? Still hasn’t utilized his chances uh? Apparently, 158 strike rate and 44avg aren’t enough.”
Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.