T20 World Cup: Ashwin returns; Chahal, Dhawan miss out as BCCI announce India squad

Ravichandran Ashwin has been included in the Indian squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the 15-man squad on Wednesday. Opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan has not been picked, alongside spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.

The Mumbai Indians (MI) pair Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan and 30-year-old spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who made their international debuts earlier this year, have been picked for the Indian team that will be led by Virat Kohli with Rohit Sharma as his deputy.

The T20 World Cup, which was initially to be held in India, was later shifted to Oman and the UAE due to the prevailing COVID-19 cases in the country. The tournament will begin on Oct. 17, starting with the qualifying matches. The Super 12 stage will only go underway from Oct. 23 with the game between Australia and South Africa in Abu Dhabi.

Ashwin and Chakravarthy are set to form the spin department along with Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Rahul Chahar. Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will comprise India's pace bracket.

The inclusion of Ashwin has come in as a surprise as the off-spinner last played a T20I for India was back in 2017 against West Indies in Kingston. The experienced spinner was a part of the Indian dressing room during the T20 World Cup in 2016, where he had managed to bag four wickets with 2 for 20 being his best figures in five games. India's campaign had ended following their semi-final loss to eventual champions West Indies. Ashwin has 52 wickets to his name in 46 T20Is for India.

Shreyas Iyer and fast bowlers Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur have been named in the standby list.

Dhawan, who has played 68 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) for India so far, recently led Team India on the Sri Lanka tour in the absence of Kohli. Under Dhawan's captaincy, India ended up losing the three-match T20I series 2-1.

India squad for 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, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohd Shami.