BCCI announces India squad for T20 World Cup 2021; MS Dhoni roped in as a mentor

After a long wait on Wednesday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) finally announced the India squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, scheduled to take place in Oman and United Arab Emirates (UAE) from October 18 to November 14.

Senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has returned to the T20I squad for the global showpiece event, while the wrist-spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have been left out.

Ashwin last played a T20I back in July 2017 against the West Indies. The Tamil Nadu cricketer led the Punjab team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the 2018 and 2019 seasons before shifting to Delhi Capitals (DC) in 2020.

Moreover, former India captain MS Dhoni will also be with the Indian outfit as a mentor for the multi-team event.

“Former India Captain @msdhoni to mentor the team for the T20 World Cup” – Honorary Secretary @JayShah #TeamIndia

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 8, 2021

Shikhar Dhawan, who recently captained the white-ball side in Sri Lanka, failed to make a cut in final 15. Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur have been picked as reserves for the marquee event.

Here is Team India’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2021:

Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami

Standby players:

Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar

TEAM – Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohd Shami.#TeamIndia

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 8, 2021