The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday will announce the 15-member Indian squad for Asia Cup T20 and the ICC World Cup T20. “Manish Pandey performed exceptionally well in Australia (in the final One-Day International) but we must remember that only 11 players get to play”. On Dhoni, who had a mixed tour of Australia in losing the ODI series but bouncing back in the T20s, Patil said, “We have total faith in Dhoni’s captaincy”. Besides the playing XI that blanked Australia 3-0 in the T20 series just a week ago, the squad includes Harbhajan Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Mohammed Shami and Pawan Negi.
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So, the five wise men chose to give India’s tried and tested trio of Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra one last time. Shami broke down ahead of his very first game in Australia and was replaced by Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, who has now been dropped.
The India Men’s team will play the Asia Cup in Bangladesh from Feb 24-06 March followed by the ICC World T20 to be held in India from the 8th March to 3rd April. To a large extent, the squad chosen by the national selectors was on expected lines.
The selectors sprang a surprise by naming Mohammed Shami in the squads but Ganguly insisted it was a good risk. Other young players who impressed in the recently concluded series against Australia, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya have also found a place in the side.
“We have 30 days to ascertain where Shami is”, Patil told reporters in New Delhi. We have looked at the performance, fitness and record of the domestic players as well. It’s only a matter of time before Pandey gets his chance. “His name was certainly discussed”, said Patil. “The selectors and the captain felt this was the best combination we could have gone with”.
MS Dhoni (c)(wkt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Mohammed Shami, Pawan Negi.
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They open their campaign against New Zealand in Nagpur on March 15.
