Former Indian fast bowler, Zaheer Khan named his version of Team India’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup scheduled to be played later this year in the UAE. He named a star-studded 15-member squad and didn’t include Shikhar Dhawan, who recently led the Men in Blue in the three-match T20I series in Sri Lanka, which India lost 1-2. Zaheer picked Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul as the two openers followed by Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav in the middle order. 

During a chat on Cricbuzz, Zaheer Khan said, “I will open with KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma. Virat and Surya will follow them. I know Virat has made the statement that he wants to open the innings. But I would still say that Virat only opens in case Hardik is not available to bowl. In that scenario, you can sacrifice one batsman and get an extra bowler.”

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Among the wrist-spinners, Zaheer Khan decided to go with the leg-spin duo of Rahul Chahar and Yuzvendra Chahal. However, he didn’t pick left-armer Kuldeep Yadav, and even Bhuvneshwar Kumar isn’t a certainty in Zaheer’s lineup either. Zaheer was also spoilt for choices between Varun Chakravarthy and Washington Sundar. 

Describing the same, Zaheer Khan said, “I have Chahal as the lead leg spinner and also went in with Rahul Chahar as his backup. In this format, we have seen that leg spinner is such a crucial factor. Chakravarthy/Sundar will be the spinners who would be bowling with the new ball. If you want that mystery element, you can choose Chakravarthy, but otherwise, you can go in with Sundar as well.”

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Zaheer’s squad: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Rahul Chahar, T Natarajan/Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Washington Sundar/Varun Chakravarthy