T20 World Cup 2021 | Shardul Thakur replaces Axar Patel in India’s T20 World Cup squad

Shardul Thakur, who was named as one of the three reserves for the T20 World Cup, has replaced Axar Patel in the main 15, with the latter moving to the standby list.

Both Shardul and Axar have endured fine form in IPL 2021, playing pivotal roles for Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals respectively in their run to the playoffs. While Thakur has taken 18 wickets at 27.27, Axar has bagged 15 at 18.27. Shardul will be one of India's five seam bowling options, alongside Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya.

Despite Axar's omission, the spin-department appears heavily loaded with the experience of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, to go with Varun Chakravarthy and Rahul Chahar.

The BCCI release also confirmed the eight players who will join the team’s bubble to assist them in the preparations for the marquee event.

“The All-India Senior Selection Committee after a discussion with the team management has added Shardul Thakur to the main squad. All-rounder Axar Patel, who was part of the 15-member squad will now be on the list of stand-by players,” BCCI stated in an official release on Wednesday.

“The following cricketers will join the team bubble in Dubai and assist Team India in their preparations:

Avesh Khan, Umran Malik, Harshal Patel, Lukman Meriwala, Venkatesh Iyer, Karn Sharma, Shahbaz Ahmed and K. Gowtham.”

India’s squad for T20 World Cup: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami

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