T20 World Cup | IND vs NZ: Virender Sehwag names his playing 11, leaves out Bhuvneshwar

Ahead of the much-awaited clash against New Zealand in the upcoming T20 World Cup match on Sunday, former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag has named his playing XI for Team India. Sehwag made only one key change to the Indian cricket team that played against Pakistan in their opening fixture of the Super-12 stage of the ongoing World Cup. The former Indian opener took to his official Koo account on Sunday and replaced pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar with pace bowling allrounder Shardul Thakur in his playing XI for India.

During India’s opening match on October 24, The Men in Blue missed the services of an extra bowler in their team as the bowling unit comprising Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja, and Varun Chakraborty returned wicket-less, handing over the win to Pakistan by 10 wickets. Earlier in the first innings of the match, Indian batters were dismissed at regular intervals as India posted an average target of 152 runs for Pakistan. Meanwhile, Sehwag’s decision to leave out Bhuvneshhwar might be made to ensure India have an extra batter in their side, citing Shardul’s abilities with the bat down the order, as well as looking at his bowling performance for CSK in the Indian Premier League(IPL) 2021.

Virender Sehwag's Playing XI for India-

During India vs Pakistan clash, Bhuvneshwar bowled three overs of his quota and returned with the figures of 0/25. In the IPL 2021, Bhuvneshwar played 11 matches for Sunriser Hyderabad and managed to dismiss only six of the opposition batters. Meanwhile, Shardul played 16 matches for Chennai Super Kings in their IPL title-winning season and became the highest wicket-taker for the team with 21 wickets to his name. Shardul was the go-to man for CSK skipper MS Dhoni whenever the team was in dire need for wickets. Looking at their current forms, it is highly probable that Shardul may find himself in the Indian squad for the match against New Zealand. 

India’s 15-man squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021-

Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohd Shami.

(Image: t20worldcup.com/ BCCI/ PTI)