New Delhi, India

India's T20 World Cup squad was announced last week, on September 12. The squad features majority of them who appeared in the Asia Cup 2022 edition and also saw the return of Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel. The reserves comprise Md Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Shreyas Iyer and Deepak Chahar. 

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After a disappointing Asia Cup, India will try to regain form in their home series versus Australia and South Africa, respectively, before heading to the T20 WC in Aaron Finch & Co.'s backyard. Prior to the Australia T20Is, which gets underway on Tuesday (September 20), captain Rohit Sharma addressed the media and spoke on who will accompany him in the opening slot Down Under.

Rohit said in a press conference, "Virat Kohli is our third opener and he will open in some of the games. In the last match of Asia Cup, we were happy with the way he played. But KL Rahul will open the batting in the World Cup, we do not want to experiment with that position a lot, his performance sometimes goes quite unnoticed."

"He (Rahul) is a very important player for Team India. For us, I just want to make it clear, we are clear in our thought process. We do not have any confusion, we are very clear what KL Rahul brings to the table for us, he is a quality player and is very important for us. His presence at the top is very crucial for us," Hitman added.

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However, a tv anchor became a butt of all jokes after he announced that Rahul Gandhi -- popular Indian politician and former Congress President -- will open for India at the T20 WC, instead of KL Rahul. 

"Bharatiya team ke kaptaan Rohit Sharma ne kaha ki T20 World Cup mein open karenge Rahul Gandhi. Virat Kohli ko bhi kai match mein pen karna pad sakta hai," (Team India captain Rohit Sharma has revealed that Rahul Gandhi will open for India at T20 World Cup. Virat Kohli too may have to open in some games) said the anchor. The video of the same has gone viral instantly.

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Both Rahul-Rohit are currently involved in India's three-match T20I series opener versus Australia, at the PCA Stadium, Mohali on Tuesday evening. Meanwhile, the journalist of a Hindi-dialect media channel has been trolled massively online for his slip of tongue.

India's final 15-man squad for T20 World Cup 2022:

Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dinesh Karthik (WK), Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh

Standby players - Mohammed Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Chahar