Xtra Time Web Desk: The Indian selectors will meet after the end of the ongoing fourth test at The Oval to pick the 15 member squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup. The tournament will be played in UAE from October 17 to November 14. It is learnt the deadline for announcing the squads is September 10. Each team can select 15 members with the provision to pick three reserve players.
Going by the reputation and current form these players are a certainty in the side. The players are Virat Kohli (C) , Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzuvendra Chahal, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
There are quite a few names that will be in contention for the remaining two slots. Considering the tournament will be played in UAE, the team management would want an extra spinner. As many as three names are in contention with the likes of Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar and Rahul Chahar. As of now Varun Chakravarthy looks to be the dark horse to make the squad until and unless Washington Sundar proves his fitness. The off spinner from Tamil Nadu will not be seen in action at the IPL 2021 second leg in UAE. It remains to be seen if the selectors prefer Sundar who will be without any match practice. Rahul Chahar in recent times has done well and will definitely be in the reckoning to be in the squad.
The selectors might be influenced to pick Mohammed Siraj as the fourth pacer. The fast bowler has been in red hot form across formats.
As far as the three reserve players are concerned it will be match ups. Shikhar Dhawan looks to sneak in as the fourth opener considering Virat Kohli has already made it clear he would like to open in the T20 format. With KL Rahul and Rohit guaranteed of a place in the playing XI, Dhawan might have to wait if someone gets injured.
If either among Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar and Rahul Chahar gets selected in the 15 then one among the remaining two will be picked as the reserve. If the BCCI wish to send a bigger squad then both might get picked as reserves. One name that is doing rounds is Ravichandran Ashwin but considering the off spinner not finding any favour in the test squad in England, it will be interesting if the selectors do pick him.
There are a couple of names that can come up for discussion as the third reserve player in the likes of Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson. The wicket keeper batsman from Jharkhand looks to have an edge over Samson given the later is inconsistent.
Probable team for T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Deepak Chahar and Mohammad Siraj .
Probable reserve players: Shikhar Dhawan, Rahul Chahar, Ishan Kishan