The BCCI announced that Shardul Thakur has been named to India’s T20 World Cup squad in place of Axar Patel. In the meantime, Axar has been added to the squad’s reserve list, together with Shreyas Iyer and Deepak Chahar. Eight players will also join the team’s bio-bubble in Dubai to assist the team in their preparations for the biggest T20 cricket event. Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik, Lukman Meriwala, K Gowtham, Karn Sharma, Venkatesh Iyer, and Shahbaz Ahmed are among those who have been named.
The T20 World Cup will be held primarily in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where the ongoing IPL 2021 is taking place, with some preliminary stage matches taking place in Oman.
Thakur has had a marvelous IPL season with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) who finished 2nd in the league and qualified for the final by defeating Delhi Capitals in the first qualifier. He achieved the third highest in the period, scoring 13 wickets in the UAE leg of the tournament.
As reflected in a Smart Wickets tally of 17.5, Thakur’s strikes have come at crucial moments, which is second only to Yuzvendra Chahal’s chart-topping 17.62. He has sent up the order at No. 4 in the 1st qualifier against the Delhi Capitals to make use of his ball-striking ability although he hasn’t had many chances to bat. But he fell for a first-ball duck.
Thakur could take the seam-bowling allrounder position for the team, which is currently with Hardik Pandya. But Hardik did not bowl in the IPL 2021, and if he is unable to do so again in the T20 World Cup, Thakur might step in and take his position.
On the other hand, Axar Patel has also had a terrific IPL season, particularly in the UAE leg, where his economy rate has been truly remarkable. He’s likely been moved to the reserves list since Ravindra Jadeja is the team’s first-choice for left-arm fingerspinning allrounder, while Axar gives a nearly identical option. If Jadeja is unavailable or injured, Axar will be called into the main lineup.
Apart from the reserve list, the 8 cricketers who will be part of the Indian team’s bio-bubble and assist with the preparations for the tournament, are mainly pure bowlers. Venkatesh Iyer is the only one whose major skill isn’t bowling, though he may fill in for the seam-bowling allrounder if necessary. Avesh, Harshal, Umran, and Shahbaz are among the others who have participated in the IPL and have had varying levels of achievement.
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