Bowlers Yuzvendra Chahal and Avesh Khan of India have left to join the first group of the Men in Blue squad in New York ahead of ICC T20 World Cup which is scheduled to start on June 1.
The World Cup team includes 18 wickets taking Chahal who was Rajasthan Royals’ impressive spinner during IPL 2024. The pacer Avesh Khan will accompany the side as a backup player.
A video was seen showing Avesh talking with fellow reserve player Rinku Singh while at Mumbai airport.
On Sunday, skipper Rohit Sharma, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and top-ranked T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav among other Indian players flew off to United States in the first batch.
Other people spotted at the airport include Rahul Dravid (head coach), Vikram Rathour (batting coach), Shubman Gill (batter), Ravindra Jadeja and Shivam Dube (all-rounders), Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed (pacers) as well as spinners such as Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel.
Rajasthan Royals’ Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson after they lost against Sunrisers Hyderabad along with their teammates Kolkata Knight Riders’ Rinku Singh, plus batting sensation Virat Kohli whose Royal Challengers Bangalore were knocked out by RR are yet to join the squad.
India’s first match will be played on June 5 against Ireland at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium that is newly built in New York during T20 World Cup.
India vs. Pakistan game that everyone has been waiting for since ages shall take place on June 9. After this match India will play USA co-hosts on June 12th then conclude their Group A games with Canada on June 15th .
The last time India won ICC title was in 2013 when they bagged the ICC Champions Trophy. Since then, they have made it to the 2023 World Cup final, semis in 2015 and 2019, 2021 &2023 ICC WTC finals, T20 WC final in 2014 and semis in 2016 and again in 2022 but no big ICC trophy yet.
India will endeavor to recreate their famous maiden T20 World Cup victory achieved during the inaugural edition held on South African soil back in 2007. In the previous tournament that took place in Australia (in)22, India were defeated by England by ten wickets in semis.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh Jasprit Bumrah Mohd Siraj
Reserves: Shubman Gill Rinku Singh Khaleel Ahmed Avesh Khan
