Shardul Thakur for Axar Patel in T20 World Cup squad

New Delhi, October 13

All-rounder Shardul Thakur has replaced Axar Patel in India’s squad for the T20 World Cup, which begins in the UAE and Oman on October 17.

Medium-pacer Thakur has been impressive in the ongoing IPL, having taken 18 wickets for finalists Chennai Super Kings.

With pace all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who plays for Mumbai Indians, not bowling in the IPL because of fitness issues, the selectors wanted another pace-bowling option in the squad.

The selectors also included Harshal Patel among the net bowlers for the Indian team. The BCCI statement said that Avesh Khan, Umran Malik, Harshal Patel, Lukman Meriwala, Venkatesh Iyer, Karn Sharma, Shahbaz Ahmed and K. Gowtham will join the team bubble in Dubai and assist the main team in its preparations for the tournament. — TNS, Agencies

Squad

Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami

Stand-by: Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Axar Patel