Jasprit Bumrah, Harshal Patel back for T20 World Cup; Mohammed Shami among stand-bys

Harshal Patel, who missed the Asia Cup with injuries were predictably back as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who recently had a knee surgery after a 'freak' injury failed to make the cut, as reported first by TOI. The team for the T20 World Cup will be led by Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul will be his deputy in the marquee tournament which will take place in Australia, starting October 16. India will play their first match against Pakistan on October 23.

Bumrah, who was suffering from a back injury and Harshal, who had a side strain, had done an intense rehabilitation programme at the National Cricket Academy and the BCCI medical team has deemed them fit for the marquee series. The two players, who missed out on World Cup berths were pacer Avesh Khan and leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who was pipped by senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. Once Harshal was fit and available, there was very little chance for Avesh to make the cut especially with a death overs economy rate of 18 in recent times. The batting unit, which hasn't performed up to expectations on big days more or less remained the same and in fact there aren't any new faces from the last T20 World Cup squad save Deepak Hooda, who won't always be an automatic first XI player. Veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has been included in the squad and will be the second keeper alongside Rishabh Pant. Axar Patel, who played India's final match in the Asia Cup against Afghanistan has been roped in as a replacement for Jadeja. India squad for T20 World Cup 2022Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, R Pant (WK), Dinesh Karthik (WK),