India finished its final limited-overs assignment before the T20 World Cup in October. India played a host of youngsters during the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka as the first team were in England for the WTC final and a five-match Test series. Only the Indian Premier League 2021 remains before the perennial tournament and selectors will be keeping a keen eye on several players.
Former India wicket-keeper Saba Karim picked his India squad for the T20 World Cup. Karim surprisingly left out Yuzvendra Chahal and Shikhar Dhawan from his squad.
“The team that was chosen by the selectors for the series against England, there were around 17 players there, I have started choosing my team from there. The players who performed well there and have not got an opportunity on the Sri Lanka tour because they were in England, you don’t have any excuse to keep them out,” Karim said during a discussion on India News.
“There should be consistency in selection. Because of that, I have kept Washington Sundar in my team. I feel that with the matches happening in the UAE, you will need an off-spinner there and he is kind of an all-rounder.”
Karim wants Rahul Chahar to be picked in the squad while he feels pacer Bhuvneshvar Kumar is getting his rhythm back after injury.
“Along with him, I have kept Rahul Chahar because I feel he is an attacking bowler, a wicket-taking bowler, a match-winner. And I am still keeping Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the team because I feel his form is coming back and he will be very essential for the Indian team.”
“I have kept Shreyas Iyer because he was also in the team which had played against England and his performance was quite good there. He couldn’t play the IPL this year but his performance in the IPL was quite good last year. So, there has to be a basis to keep him out of the team,” Karim concluded.
Karim’s squad for the T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, T Natarajan, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
