T20 WC 2021: Shardul Thakur replaces Axar Patel in India’s squad

Team India has made only one change in their squad T20 World Cup for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Shardul Thakur has been rewarded for his performances in the second leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He has replaced the left-arm spinner Axar Patel in the squad who is now the part of the stand by players list for the tournament.

According to the BCCI Press Release, the selectors made the change after discussing with the team management. The rest of the squad is the same and Yuzvendra Chahal, despite performing well hasn’t been included in the final squad. The leg-spinner picked up 14 wickets in 8 matches in IPL 2021 UAE leg. Shreyas Iyer and Deepak Chahar, meanwhile, continue to be the standby players for the mega event.

As for Thakur’s selection, he has been selected after picking 13 wickets in 8 matches of the IPL 2021 UAE leg so far. He will also take part in the final of the tournament on October 15. Axar Patel will be hard done by the axe as he also performed extremely well for Delhi Capitals accounting for nine scalps in seven matches so far and was also economical.

Total 8 players to join India’s bubble as net bowlers

Meanwhile, BCCI has officially added eight players to team India’s bubble to assist them in their preparations. Avesh Khan, Umran Malik, Harshal Patel, Lukman Meriwala, Venkatesh Iyer, Karn Sharma, Shahbaz Ahmed and Krishnappa Gowtham will be joining team India soon after the IPL.

All the eyes were on Hardik Pandya’s selection after he didn’t bowl in the IPL for Mumbai Indians (MI). But it seems that for now, the problem has been solved. Moreover, the changes could be made to the squad still until October 15 even as BCCI has not mentioned anything about the all-rounder in their official release.

Here’s the updated squad:

Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami

Standby Players: Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Axar Patel

Net Bowlers: Avesh Khan, Umran Malik, Harshal Patel, Lukman Meriwala, Venkatesh Iyer, Karn Sharma, Shahbaz Ahmed and K. Gowtham.