BCCI announces India's 15-man squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2022

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a 15-man squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2022, scheduled to be played in Australia from October 16 to November 13. Rohit Sharma will lead the squad as India will also travel with 4 stand-by players for the quadrennial tournament.

India will begin their campaign in the Super 12 stages of the tournament against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 23 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Group 2 will feature India, Pakistan, South Africa and Bangladesh plus the Group B winners and Group A runners-up. Sixteen nations will compete in the tournament, which will be played in Adelaide, Brisbane, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel returned to the side, having missed out on the Asia Cup with a side strain. Arshdeep Singh and



Bhuvneshwar Kumar are the other two pacers in the squad, along with the all-rounder Hardik Pandya. The squad was, however, missing all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who sustained an injury during the Asia Cup.

R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel are the specialist spinners, with the latter ostensibly replacing Jadeja in the squad. The batting line-up is along expected lines with captain Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik all included.

With captain Rohit Sharma and his deputy KL Rahul set for opening, star batter Virat Kohli is set to bat at No.3 after regaining his form in the recently-concluded Asia Cup 2022. Suryakumar Yadav has been India's most successful batter in T20I cricket in the current season and will be set to bat at No.4 on Australian pitches, with optimum bounce.