ICC T20 World Cup 2021: A look at Team India's player profiles

The 7th edition of the T20 World Cup is scheduled to begin in the UAE later this month, where 16 nations will compete. For India, the T20 World Cup campaign will start with the blockbuster clash against arch-rival Pakistan on October 24. The BCCI has already announced a 15-member squad for the marquee event. Virat Kohli has been named the captain of the Indian side with MS Dhoni as a mentor. Here's a look at the profiles of Team India players. 

Team India squad: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rahul Chahar, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah. 

Travelling reserves: Shardul Thakur, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar.

Team India player profiles

Virat Kohli: The Indian skipper will be under considerable pressure to win the cup for India as it will be his last outing as T20I captain. Kohli has played 90 T20Is in his career and has scored 3,159 runs at an average of 52.65. Kohli is expected to open for India in the T20 World Cup alongside veteran Rohit Sharma. 

Rohit Sharma: The Indian vice-captain has played 111 T20I matches for India and has scored 2,864 runs at an average of 32.54. Sharma scores with a strike rate of 138.96 in the shortest format and has four centuries to his name. Rohit is expected to play the role of a destructive batsman at the top of the order for India. 

KL Rahul: The Karnataka batsman looking in great touch with the bat as he has been scoring an enormous amount of runs for the past couple of months. After having a great show in England, Rahul continued his form and smashed over 600 runs in the IPL, securing the Orange Cap for himself after the completion of the league stage. Rahul has played 49 T20Is for India and has scored 1,557 runs at an average of 39.92, including 2 centuries and 11 half-centuries. 

Suryakumar Yadav: The Mumbai batter maybe a rookie in the international arena but he has gained a plethora of experience playing in domestic cricket and IPL. Yadav has played 4 T20Is for India and has scored 139 runs at an average of 46.33. The 31-year-old has played 115 IPL games in his career and has scored 2,341 runs at an average of 28.90, including 13 half-centuries. 

Ishan Kishan: The Bihar batsman has played 3 T20Is for India and has scored 80 runs at an average of 40.00, including a half-century. He received the World Cup call-up on the back of a brilliant IPL season for Mumbai Indians last year and his incredible performance in his brief international career. 

Rishabh Pant: The Delhi batter has earned a place in the World Cup squad courtesy of his amazing run with the bat in 2021. Pant has been one of the key performers for Team India in the past 10 months. Pant has a strike rate of 123 in the T20Is from the 33 matches that he has played for India. He has 512 runs, including 2 half-centuries. 

Hardik Pandya: The Gujarat cricketer has not been in great form since sustaining an injury last year. Pandya has been included in the World Cup squad as an all-rounder, however, the 28-year-old has not bowled in competitive matches regularly since sustaining the injury. Pandya has played 49 T20Is for India and has scored 484 runs at an average of 19.36. He also has 42 wickets to his name. 

Ravindra Jadeja: The 32-year-old all-rounder has played 50 T20Is for India. He has 217 runs and 39 wickets to his name. Jadeja is currently in great touch with both bat and the ball. Jadeja plays for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, where he has helped his team reach the final this season. 

Ravichandran Ashwin: The Chennai all-rounder will make his T20I return for India after four years when he takes the field in the T20 World Cup. Ashwin has played 46 T20I matches and has 123 runs and 52 wickets. His batting average in the shortest format of the game is 30.75 and his bowling average is 22.94. 

Axar Patel: The Gujarat cricketer had made his T20I debut in 2015 but did not get much opportunity to play thereafter. He has represented India in 12 T20Is, where he has scored 75 runs and picked 9 wickets. He received his T20 World Cup call-up on the back of his brilliant performance with the ball in the 2020-2021 season.  

Rahul Chahar: The leg-spinner has been picked in place of regular Team India bowler Yuzvendra Chahal. Rahul has played 5 T20Is for India and has scalped 7 wickets. Rahul showed his class against England earlier this year and then against Sri Lanka in July. However, Rahul had a poor run with the ball during the second leg of IPL 2021. 

Varun Chakravarthy: The mystery spinner has been selected in India's World Cup squad on the back of two back-to-back brilliant IPL seasons in 2020 and 2021. Chakravarthy has already picked 16 wickets in the first 15 matches of IPL 2021. Chakravarthy has troubled several world-class players with his mystery bowling in IPL. 

Mohammed Shami: The pacer is a regular member of Team India across all formats. Shami will be expected to lead the pace attack for India in the T20 World Cup alongside his compatriot Jasprit Bumrah. Shami has played 12 T20I matches for India and has 12 wickets to his name. 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar: The 31-year-old pacer has been given a chance in Team India despite his poor form with the ball in the recent past. Kumar's experience will come in handy for Team India as he has played 51 T20I games in his career. Kumar has 50 wickets to his name and can also bat in the lower order if the situation necessitates. 

Jasprit Bumrah: The 27-year-old has played 50 T20Is for India since his debut in 2016. Bumrah has 59 wickets to his name in the shortest format. He will be the lead bowler for Team India in the upcoming T20 World Cup. Bumrah's ability to bowl perfect yorkers in death overs will come in handy for Kohli during the ICC event.

Image: AP/PTI