India squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2021 to be announced soon

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is likely to announce team India’s squad for T20 World Cup 2021 at 9pm today, which is two days before ICC’s cut off date for announcement. The World Cup will take place in Oman and the UAE from October 17. The final will played in Dubai on November 14.

India have been placed in Group 2 alongside Pakistan, New Zealand and Afghanistan and will start their campaign in a clash with Pakistan on October 24. The team will play three of their four matches at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. One match will be played against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

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A total of 18 players will be picked for the event, including three reserves. The Chetan Sharma-led selection committee is expected to meet at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai today and link up with Indian skipper Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri, who are in Manchester and London respectively. BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah are also expected to be a part of the decision-making process. 

Meanwhile, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has picked his 15-man India squad for the tournament. He left out Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer and included Shardul Thakur and Krunal Pandya.

Here’s his full squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar (if fit), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur and Yuzvendra Chahal.

This will also be Team India’s first T20 World Cup without Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was named the captain of the side for the 2007 edition, the first ever T20 World Cup, which India ended up winning.