IND vs ENG: India announce T20I squad; four uncapped players included
India have announced their squad for the upcoming T20I series against England. The BCCI has given plenty of pleasant surprises as the 19-man squad includes as many as four uncapped cricketers. Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Rahul Tewatia and Varun Chakravarthy will be in line to play their first-ever international cricket match for the nation. These cricketers impressed with their performances in the 2020 IPL and have been rewarded.
Here’s the official tweet from BCCI:
Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Y Chahal, Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel, W Sundar, R Tewatia, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep, Shardul Thakur. https://t.co/KkunRWtwE6
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 20, 2021
Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav blazed with the bat in the winning season for Mumbai Indians in the UAE. While Kishan scored 516 runs in 14 matches, Suryakumar was MI’s Mr Consistent as he also amassed 480 runs in 16 matches. The duo was instrumental in the Mumbai team’s utter domination over all other IPL franchises.
Varun Chakravarthy of Tamil Nadu is another such interesting selection. An architect by profession, Chakravarthy had given up cricket until he resumed it at the age of 26. His performances in the Tamil Nadu Premier League got him into the IPL and now he finds a way in the Indian squad. He took 17 wickets in 13 matches for Kolkata Knight Riders in the last IPL season. He was already picked for the Australia tour but was ruled out due to a shoulder injury.
Rahul Tewatia of Rajasthan Royals played arguably the most IPL innings ever as he struck 53 off 31 balls after being 8 off 19 balls at one stage. Along with his late power-hitting, Tewatia bowls leg-spin and is a wonderful utility cricketer to have in a team.
