The selectors have announced the team for the upcoming World T20 slated to take place in UAE and Oman from October 17.
The side would be led by Virat Kohli while Rohit Sharma will be his deputy. Apart from these two, the batting department comprises KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav while Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan are the two wicket-keeper batsmen in the side.
SKY and Ishan had a great start to their international careers for India after the two batsmen notched up individual fifties on their respective debuts for the team and would be a great fit for the already strong Indian side.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya who had undergone surgery for a back injury earlier and hasn’t been bowling consistently has also found a place for himself in the squad. However, there is a high chance that he would be played as a specialist batsman with minimal bowling duties on the day the Indian attack is not taken apart. The spin department has the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Rahul Chahar, Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy.
R Ashwin has been the surprise call in this department having not played white ball cricket for the Indian team for over four years now.
The pace bowling unit has some experienced campaigners like Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami.
Former India captain MS Dhoni will be joining the side as the mentor for the tournament.
"MS Dhoni will mentor the team for the T20 World Cup," confirmed BCCI secretary Jay Shah.
Right-handed batsman Shreyas Iyer, bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur and medium pacer Deepak Chahar are the three reserved players in the squad.
India will begin the campaign on October 24 against arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai.
SQUAD: 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