Harsha Bhogle picks Indian squad for T20 WC, leaves out Shikhar Dhawan

Once the England Test series meet its conclusion, the next big international affair waiting for India will be the World T20 Championship slated to happen in the next three months.

India was jolted to a rude awakening after they were handed their maiden T20 series shellacking at the hands of Sri Lanka in the recently concluded three-match affair. Covid-19 played a series-defining role in shaping up the fortune of the matter, but Indian batters seemed entirely out of shape in the high-voltage series.

As the T20 World Cup closes in upon us, renowned cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle starring in the show, Cricbuzz Live picked up his Indian team for the imminent extravaganza.

Bhogle picked five batters for the upcoming tournament in Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, and Suryakumar Yadav. According to him, the fifth position will be a tussle between Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan. Shreyas Iyer has been away from international cricket for a while now, while Ishan Kishan has impressed during the tour in Sri Lanka.

Another notable move by Bhogle was to let Dhawan out of the contention. The southpaw has displayed good form in the last few international contests but has been woefully slow in garnering the runs in the shorter formats.

Kuldeep Yadav misses out on a place in Harsha Bhogle's squad

The three all-rounders on his side are Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, and Ravindra Jadeja. As always, Jadeja has been in top form though he has not featured in T20 contentions ever since IPL was halted. Sundar has displayed decent character but is still to be tested at the international level. Sadly for the Indians, Pandya disappointed in the Lankan tour and will need to perform well in the IPL to cement his place in the national side. 

Needless to say, the wicket-keeping responsibilities will be handed over to Rishabh Pant, who has been phenomenal in the recent past.

The two spinners chosen by Bhogle have been Yuzvendra Chahal and Varun Chakravarthy. CV Varun was impressive in India's outing against Sri Lanka, while Chahal will have to deliver in the upcoming IPL to find himself a spot in the national side.

Like batters, he has also kept four slots for fast bowlers in his side. The obvious choices in fast bowling are Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, and Deepak Chahar. The final position will issue a contest between Shami and Natarajan.

Despite Kuldeep Yadav being the sixth-highest wicket-taker in the Indian side in T20 affairs, his declining form has compelled Harsha to leave him on the sidelines.

His wicket tally reads 41 wickets, out of which two came against Sri Lanka from 2 games. He has been expensive lately and will need a magical turnaround to get him back to the side.

Harsha Bhogle's squad for T20 World Cup 2021: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (C), Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer/Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami/T Natarajan, Yuzvendra Chahal