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Team India is currently in the United Kingdom (UK), taking on England in the Test series that started on Wednesday at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. Before this series, the second-string Indian side under the captaincy of Shikhar Dhawan finished their white-ball tour of Sri Lanka.
India won the ODI leg but failed to defeat the hosts in the shortest format. However, more than the result, the focus was to try out new players in order to find a balanced squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021 in Oman and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
As the mega event is approaching, experts of the fascinating game have started revealing their picks from different teams. Following the trend, former Indian chief selector MSK Prasad has named his India squad for the marquee event.
Prasad opined that Dhawan should be there alongside Rohit Sharma and Prithvi Shaw as openers. He named skipper Virat Kohli, new batting sensation Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant as middle-order players. Prasad explained that the mega competition would be played in Asian conditions, so Rahul should be in the squad and bat in the middle-order.
“I still feel that Shikhar Dhawan should be there. It should be Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, and Prithvi Shaw as the three openers. And the middle-order will be Virat, SKY, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant. KL is going to play in the middle-order only because there’s Rohit and Shikhar, and even Prithvi Shaw also is in outstanding form. And again, it’s in Asian conditions, so I have a feeling he might be there,” Prasad told Sportskeeda.
Prasad mentioned that Washington Sundar is a sure-shot player since he is a T20 specialist bowler, and Ravindra Jadeja will also feature in the outfit. The 46-year-old reckoned that there could be a toss-up between Yuzvendra Chahal and Varun Chakravarthy because Krunal Pandya will get a place due to his all-round abilities.
“I don’t think they will take five spinners. Washington Sundar is a T20 specialist bowler, no two ways about it, and Jadeja will anyway be in the squad. Then, Krunal Pandya – he can bat, he can bowl, he can field. Apart from these three, whether you’ll go with a Chahal or an ex-factor in Varun Chakravarthy depends on how they perform in the IPL because that will also take place in the UAE,” added Prasad.
Among the fast bowlers, Prasad went with Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, with Hardik Pandya as a backup bowler.
Here is MSK Prasad’s Indian squad for T20 World Cup:
Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan/Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Varun Chakravarthy/Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
