New Delhi: Jasprit Bumrah, a fit pace spearhead, and death overs specialist Harshal Patel were expectedly back in India’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia, which begins on October 16.
Bumrah, who suffered from a back injury, and Harshal, who pulled a side, had completed an intensive rehabilitation program at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and the BCCI medical team had deemed them fit for the marquee series.
The 15-man squad, led by Roht Sharma, consists of two wicketkeepers in Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik. Kerala batsman Sanju Samson was overlooked while Deepak Hooda retained his spot.
India will play their first game against Pakistan on October 23.
The two players missing out on the World Championship spot were pacer Avesh Khan and leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who was passed by senior off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
However, veteran pacer Mohammed Shami was back in the T20 scheme as he was selected for the T20 series against Australia and South Africa ahead of the big event and is also among the four substitutes set to travel Down Under.
The other three substitutes are Shreyas Iyer, Bishnoi and Seaman Deepak Chahar.
Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will report to the NCA for condition work as the home series against Australia and South Africa progress.
Bhuvneshwar will miss the South Africa series while Hardik and Arshdeep will skip the Australia series from September 20th.
Indian Squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, and Arshdeep Singh.
standbys: Mohammed Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, and Deepak Chahar.
India squad for Australia T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, and Jasprit Bumrah.
India squad for South Africa T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, and Jasprit Bumrah.
