Changes in India's T20 World Cup squad highly unlikely but cannot be ruled out, BCCI source

SportsTak

Plenty of questions have been raised on selection of players in T20 World Cup squad after their form in the ongoing second phase of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. There have been rumours going around that there may be a few changes made in the squad of 15 players plus three reserves ahead of the quadrennial event starting on October 17. 


A source within the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) told Sports Tak that the possibility of changes is highly unlikely but cannot be completely ruled out. “It is unlikely that changes will be made but the possibility is there if any player gets injured or selection panel feels that some changes should be made,” the source said. 


“So far, there is nothing but all depends on the selection panel’s observation and if the feel there is a need to make changes. They may do it but there is no talk about it yet,” he added. 


The source also clarified that the current squad for the mega event was selected after talking to all concerned departments including members, officials, players and everyone was on the same page with the decision.


Yuzvendra Chahal, who was replaced by Rahul Chahar has been doing well in the second phase. Chahal has taken 10 wickets from five games and has an economy rate below six runs per over. Reserve players Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar have been performing well for their respective teams. On the other hand, Ishan Kishan and Rahul Chahar were dropped from the Mumbai Indians (MI) team after their ordinary performances. Suryakumar Yadav too has struggled with the bat in the second leg so far.  


India’s 15-man squad

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.


Reserves:  Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar.