New Delhi, India
India's 15-man squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup was finally announced on Wednesday (September 8). Virat Kohli-led Men in Blue's squad comprises a good mix of youth and experienced campaigners but MS Dhoni's inclusion sprung a huge surprise for one and all.
For the unversed, Dhoni has returned to the Indian squad as the team mentor for the marquee tournament. Given his overall experience, leading India to all three major ICC titles, tactical acumen, huge respect in the current Indian setup, Dhoni's inclusion will benefit India who will look to break their 8-year-long ICC title drought and also win their second T20 World Cup.
Sharing the news, BCCI Secretary Jay Shah told in the virtual press-conference. "Former India Captain MS Dhoni to mentor the team for the T20 World Cup. (I) spoke to him in Dubai. He agreed to be mentor for WT20 only and I discussed with my colleagues and all are on same page. I spoke to captain (Virat Kohli) and vice-captain (Rohit Shamra) and everyone agreed," he added.
Mr. @msdhoni will join #TeamIndia for the upcoming #T20WorldCup as a mentor.
The announcement from Mr. @JayShah, Honorary Secretary, BCCI, which made the entire nation happy. pic.twitter.com/2IaCynLT8J
â BCCI (@BCCI) September 8, 2021
India's squad comprises the likes of R Ashwin, Rahul Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja as the spinners. Meanwhile, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami will share the responsibility in the pace department. The one-time champions have gone ahead with two specialist wicketkeepers such as Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan, whereas KL Rahul can also keep wickets. Hardik, Jadeja, Axar, Ashwin, Bhuvi will also act as the all-rounders.
Talking about the specialist batters, Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav made the list whereas Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur are named in the reserves.