Pacer Shardul Thakur has replaced left-arm spinner Axar Patel in the Indian squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Thakur has been added to the squad on the back of an impressive campaign in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the UAE. Thakur was earlier a standby player in the squad but has now been drafted into the 15-man squad while Axar is now part of the reserve list along with Shreyas Iyer and Deepak Chahar. 

With Hardik Pandya’s inability to bowl during the ongoing IPL edition, the addition of another pacer in the Indian squad looked inevitable. Although Pandya has kept his place in the squad as a pure batsman, Thakur will give Virat Kohli’s side the option of playing a fast-bowling all-rounder in the playing XI if needed. 

In his last appearance in the shortest format for the Men in Blue against England earlier this year, Thakur finished as the series’ highest wicket-taker with 8 wickets in 5 matches. 

The 29-year-old has also been a vital cog in CSK’s run to the 2021 IPL final having taken 18 wickets in 15 games. 

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCC) also announced that Avesh Khan, Umran Malik, Harshal Patel, Lukman Meriwala, Venkatesh Iyer, Karn Sharma, Shahbaz Ahmed, and K. Gowtham have joined the team’s bio-bubble in Dubai and will assist in preparation for the tournament.  

India will begin their campaign in the 2021 T20 World Cup against Pakistan on 24th October at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. 

India’s squad for ICC T20 World Cup: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami

Stand-by players: Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Axar Patel