ICC T20 World Cup 2022: Virat Kohli left the captaincy of the T20 format after a disappointing performance in the T20 World Cup 2021 played last year. After which Rohit Sharma was made the new captain of the team. Under the captaincy of Rohit, the Indian team has fully engaged in the preparations for the T20 World Cup to be held in Australia later this year. Now before that, former Indian batsman and commentator Aakash Chopra has given the names of 15 players, who are going to get a place in the World Cup team this year.
Aakash Chopra picked his 15 players for the World Cup
Keeping in mind the pitch of Australia, Aakash Chopra believes that spin bowlers will not be given much preference in this year’s World Cup. For the opening, he has kept 4 options along with captain Rohit Sharma, including young batsman Ishan Kishan. In the middle order, he has included both Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer. Iyer has recently impressed everyone with his batting against the Sri Lankan team. To support these two, there will be wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja in the lower order.
In the field of fast bowling, Akash has many options to choose from. According to this former right-handed batsman, the place of T20 Jasprit Bumrah is confirmed. But, for the remaining three spots, there will be a tough competition between Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Famous Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, T Natarajan, Khaleel Ahmed. How true Akash’s prediction is going to be, it will be clear during the recently played IPL season.
Special preparations are going on to win the trophy after 15 years
The Indian team won its last and only T20 World Cup trophy. Now 15 years have passed since then. Team India also won its last ICC trophy under the captaincy of Dhoni in the 2013 Champions Trophy. India could not win a single ICC tournament under Virat’s captaincy. However, under the captaincy of Rohit, now the team has geared up to end the drought of 9 years.
After the defeat in the first two matches of the T20 World Cup 2021, the Indian team has won a record 12 consecutive matches. Under the captaincy of Rohit, Team India has cleared New Zealand, West Indies and Sri Lanka 3-0 in 3 consecutive T20 series. Before that, India had won its last three matches in the World Cup as well.
Aakash Chopra’s 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup
Top Order Batsmen: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan.
Middle Order Batsmen: Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant.
All-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Venkatesh Iyer, Hardik Pandya.
Spinner: Yuzvendra Chahal
Fast Bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar/Deepak Chahar, Famous Krishna/Awesh Khan/Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami/T Natarajan/Khaleel Ahmed.