Brad Hogg omits Dhawan and Iyer from his India XI for WT20; picks KL Rahul in middle-order
Renowned expert Brad Hogg has picked his Indian XI for the WT20 and has opted to open with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, omitting IPL orange cap-holder Shikhar Dhawan altogether from the side. Rahul, SKY and Pant constitute Hogg’s middle-order, while there is no place for Shreyas Iyer.
With just over three months left for the World T20, teams have started to scramble in order to finalize their best XI for the competition. Australia, West Indies, South Africa and England are all currently experimenting with different combinations in order to strike the best balance, while these four sides will soon be joined by Pakistan, who will be hoping to get knowledge about their squad in the three-match T20I series against the Three Lions.
The case with India is different, as they will be fielding a second-string XI, but there is still, nevertheless, a window of opportunity for players to impress the selectors. In the meantime, however, former Australian spinner and renowned expert Brad Hogg donned the selectors’ hat and picked his Indian XI for the World T20.
India are spoiled for choices up the order, but, interestingly, Hogg opted to go with the two senior-most batsmen, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, as the openers. Rohit and Kohli opened for India in the fifth T20I against England earlier this year, and thus Hogg chose the pair to open the batting, snubbing Shikhar Dhawan. Dhawan is set to lead India in the white-ball series against Sri Lanka and is also the current orange cap holder of IPL 2021.
At three, much to no one’s surprise is the ever-so-impressive Suryakumar Yadav, but at No.4 Hogg picked KL Rahul, who was dropped from the England series mid-way due to poor form. Rahul, in India’s T20I set-up, has been an opener, but the Australian spinner picked the Punjab Kings captain as his No.4, snubbing Shreyas Iyer.
At No.5, No.6 and No.7 are the dynamic trio of Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja, who are viewed by many as the key to India’s chances in the World Cup. Jadeja missed the England T20Is due to injury, but the southpaw is expected to feature in the full-strength XI down the order, shouldering the responsibility of being the finisher and the second spinner.
Shardul Thakur and Bhuvneshwar Kumar slot in at No.8 and No.9, respectively, in Hogg’s XI, while Yuzvendra Chahal sneaks ahead of Rahul Chahar and Kuldeep Yadav as the lone wrist-spinner. Jasprit Bumrah spearheads the attack, meaning there is no place for Mohammed Shami, Deepak Chahar and T Natarajan.
Brad Hogg’s Indian World T20 XI
Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah
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