Divided by IPL, united by India: IPL team-wise Indian players in T20 WC 2021
The Indian squad for the T20 World Cup 2021 in the UAE was announced. Among the 15 players who have been picked, seven IPL teams have their players in the group. No player from Rajasthan Royals was selected. Here is the IPL team-wise distribution of the Indian squad selected for the T20 World Cup 2021:
Mumbai Indians – 6
From #IPL2021 to #T20WorldCup 🏆, from MI colours to Indian blues 💙
📹 Ishan, Rahul and other team members react on 🇮🇳 squad selection 🤩#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #KhelTakaTak @ishankishan51 @rdchahar1 @MXTakaTak MI TV pic.twitter.com/VrtMUqK06T
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) September 9, 2021
Mumbai Indians have the most number of players from their unit in the T20 World Cup 2021 squad. It shouldn’t be surprising as most of their Indian players fit into the national team and Mumbai themselves have won three out of the last four IPL seasons. Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah are the selected players.
Delhi Capitals – 3
From the Delhi Capitals, fans might have been sure about Rishabh Pant’s selection and might’ve anticipated the selection of Shreyas Iyer. But, Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin, having played major roles during Capitals’ runners-up finish in IPL 2020 in the UAE, were given their chance. Iyer made it to the reserve, but not in the main squad.
Punjab Kings – 2
KL Rahul’s T20 batting numbers have been quite good since he joined Punjab Kings. Having scored 659 runs in 2018, 593 in 2019, 670 in 2020 and 331 in half of the season of 2021, Rahul’s selection was a no-brainer. But, through his stint at Punjab, Mohammed Shami seems to have revived his career. So far, he has picked 47 wickets for them in 36 matches.
Royal Challengers Bangalore – 1
Yuzvendra Chahal’s exclusion was one of the biggest upsets, but once, Rahul Chahar outperformed him during the first leg of the IPL 2021, it was always going to be difficult for them. This left RCB’s captain Virat Kohli as the only player in the World Cup’s squad. Mohammed Siraj had an outside chance but wasn’t considered.
Sunrisers Hyderabad – 1
There aren’t too many players from the Sunrisers Hyderabad unit who were considered for this year’s T20 World Cup. With not too many Indian internationals, SRH was always going to struggle. The good news for them is that Bhuvneshwar Kumar is fit and back to his best.
Kolkata Knight Riders – 1
Much like Sunrisers Hyderabad, none of the core members of KKR were expected to make an appearance. However, Varun Chakravarthy’s inclusion might have surprised a few but in IPL 2020, he was a pick of the bowlers for KKR, finishing with 17 wickets with an economy of 6.84.
Chennai Super Kings – 1
Amongst the current lot of CSK players, there wasn’t anyone other than star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja who was considered in the final 15. Deepak Chahar was one player who was expected to be selected but found himself in the reserves with his CSK teammate, Shardul Thakur.
