T20 World Cup 2021: Strongest Predicted Playing 11 for Team India

Virat Kohli to lead while Rishabh Pant to keep as we look at the strongest predicted playing 11 for Team India for T20 World Cup 2021. 

October 10, 2021, was the initial deadline for submitting the final squad for the T20 World Cup 2021, but the same has been extended to October 15. While BCCI has already announced the official squad for Team India, it seems as if there won’t be any changes to the squad unless someone is injured. 

So, the good performers for Team India in the second leg of IPL 2021 UAE like Yuzvendra Chahal, Shikhar Dhawan, Shardul Thakur, Shreyas Iyer, etc. would now find it difficult to see themselves in the final 15. However, from more potential prospects, only Yuzvendra Chahal and Shardul Thakur are the front-runners to be in the final 15. 

With just 2 weeks left before Team India officially kick-off their T20 World Cup 2021 campaign against  Pakistan, the bets are quite high for the match as seen on Betway. Meanwhile, let’s look at the strongest predicted playing 11 for Team India for T20 World Cup 2021. 

T20 World Cup 2021 – Official Squad for Team India: 

Batsmen: Ishan Kishan(WK), KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav & Virat Kohli

All-rounders: Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya & Ravindra Jadeja

Bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin & Varun Chakravarthy

Reserves: Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur & Deepak Chahar 

Mentor: MS Dhoni // Captain: Virat Kohli // Vice-captain: Rohit Sharma

Openers: Rohit Sharma & KL Rahul

Team India have three openers to choose from, but without a doubt, the strongest opening combination should be the dynamic duo of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. Ishan Kishan is also an option to get more aggressive at the top, but he should be a good backup to start with. 

KL Rahul is currently the best T20 player for Team India, and it is also seen from his IPL performance in the last 4 years where he has amassed more than 500 years every year. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma is in the form of his life in all three formats. His recent IPL performance was decent, but that should not bother Rohit Sharma, the International player. 

Middle-order: Virat Kohli (C), Rishabh Pant (C) & Suryakumar Yadav

The main question for Team India would be the selection of the third middle-order player. While Virat Kohli at 3 and Rishabh Pant at 4 or 5 select for themselves, it will boil down to one between Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan. Even as Ishan Kishan is a backup opener, he is quite adaptable to play in the middle-order too.

Of the two, Suryakumar Yadav seems the best bet. The best thing for Team India is the return of Suryakumar Yadav’s form. While SKY had a below-par IPL season in the first 13 matches, he returned to form with a bang smashing an unbeaten 82 off 40 balls. This should give Team India the confidence to play SKY at 4 or 5. 

Finishers: Hardik Pandya & Ravindra Jadeja

The duo of Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja will without a doubt play as the finisher all-rounders for Team India. However, the biggest question for Team India would be whether Hardik Pandya is able to bowl at least 2-3 overs. If he cannot, then Team India are virtually playing only 5 bowlers, which would be a gamble. 

Ravindra Jadeja is definitely a potent bowler to bowl all his 4 overs. But, in case any of the other 4 bowlers don’t have a good outing, it would be important to use the sixth bowler, and injury-prone Hardik seems the only good bet. Nevertheless, in terms of batting, both Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya are still reliable. 

Bowlers: Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakravarthy & Jasprit Bumrah

Coming to the bowling, this is where Team India will face their biggest headache given the number of available options. To start with, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami seem the first-choice pacers in the squad. While Bumrah is the World’s best pacer, Shami has been on stunning form off-late, and should get a nod ahead of Bhuvneshwar. 

Meanwhile, the selection of the third pacer shall heavily depend on whether Hardik gives those 2-3 overs. If Hardik gives those crucial overs, then India can look to play 2 spinners along with Jadeja. If not, Bhuvneshwar is a unanimous selection as a pacer. Even as Bhuvi’s form is not good, he may come out well in the Blues. 

Coming to the spinner spot, Team India have to decide between Ashwin, Chakravarthy, and Chahar. Now, this is actually a tough one. If we ignore the IPL performance, Rahul Chahar should be the first-choice spinner. But given Rahul’s Chahar’s current form and Mumbai Indians showing the least confidence in Chahar, it is unlikely Rahul Chahar will play ahead of Varun or Ashwin. 

Hence, if the current form is considered, it is extremely difficult to not select Varun Chakravarthy as the first-choice spinner. The Mystery spinner has been really impressive playing for KKR. He can be the trump card for Team India with favorable spin conditions in UAE. Meanwhile, If Yuzvendra Chahal is selected in the final 15, then he should play ahead of Varun Chakravarthy. 

Strongest Predicted Playing 11 for Team India for T20 World Cup 2021:

Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (C), Rishabh Pant (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy & Jasprit Bumrah. 

So, that completes the strongest predicted playing 11 for Team India for the T20 World Cup 2021. The only positions which Team India will debate upon are spinner and third pacer. 

Thanks for reading! What’s your Strongest playing 11 for Team India for T20 World Cup 2021? Please email your thoughts to business@cricalytics.com

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