The Indian team for the T20 World Cup 2022 departed for Australia in the early hours of Thursday. A video of the team leaving Mumbai airport shows KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya alighting the team bus and entering the airport. Virat Kohli, who is expected to be the mainstay of Team India’s batting alongside skipper Rohit Sharma, was also present. India will travel to Perth before heading to Sydney for two warm-up games against New Zealand and hosts Australia before facing Pakistan in the crucial opener on October 23.
Previously, the BCCI shared a photo of the team leaving Mumbai with the caption: “Picture Perfect, Let’s do this, Team India.”
On September 12, the Board selected the 15-man squad, with Rohit Sharma named captain and KL Rahul named vice captain. The selection was predictable, with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Rahul Dravid, Suryakumar Yadav, and Deepak Hooda named as specialist batters. The squad’s two allrounders are Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel.
The two wicketkeepers have been named as Rishabh Pant and veteran Dinesh Karthik. Nonetheless, without Jasprit Bumrah, the bowling lacks bite. Recent performances against Australia and South Africa have also raised concerns about India’s death bowling unit, which includes Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, and Arshdeep Singh.
Earlier, left-arm fast bowler Arshdeep Singh was recognised for his outstanding start to his international career and will add a new dimension to the team’s pace attack.
The spin department will be led by Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal, with help from Axar and part-timer Hooda.
Avesh Khan was the lone member of the Asia Cup squad who seems to have been snubbed while Ravindra Jadeja is out with injury.
Deepak Chahar and young spinner Ravi Bishnoi have been named in the standby list alongside Mohammed Shami and Shreyas Iyer.
The T20 World Cup will get underway from October 16 with the final slated for November 13. India have been pooled in Group 2 alongside Pakistan, South Africa, Bangladesh and two qualifiers.
India will begin their campaign against Pakistan on October 23 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Last year, India was eliminated from the group stage after losing their first two games to Pakistan and New Zealand.