India's squad for the home series against Australia and South Africa has been announced as Mohammed Shami and Deepak are set to feature in an extended squad. The duo has been initially put on a stand-by list by the selectors after they missed out on the primary 15-member squad for T20 World Cup.
In an announcement made on Monday evening, the selectors have shown faith in Harhal Patel and have opted to put both Shami and Chahar on stand-by for T20 World Cup. However, with an extended squad for the home series, both are set to feature as India play Australia in a three-match T20I series starting on Tuesday, September 20.
It was expected that one of Chahar and Shami will make the primary squad while Harshal will miss out. The nature of the bouncy wickets in Australia could benefit Shami, but the selectors saw it otherwise and have now gone with Harshal, who according to many experts could be ineffective.
Deepak Chahar recently made his comeback into the Indian team after a back injury. He featured in the Zimbabwe tour and was then drafted into the Asia Cup squad after Avesh Khan was ruled out due to injury. Many experts had reckoned that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) star will feature in the T20 World Cup squad, but will only showcase his talent in the home series against Australia and South Africa.
Shami who was in the Indian team for the England squad was also a surprise omission, as bouncy pitches Down Under have helped him in the past. The likes of Ravi Bishnoi and Shreyas Iyer are part of the stand-by as Jasprit Bumrah returns to the main squad.
India Squad for Australia T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohd. Shami, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah.
India squad for South Africa T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohd. Shami, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah.
