Shardul Thakur replaces Axar Patel in India's T20 World Cup squad

Team India all-rounder Shardul Thakur has replaced Axar Patel in the T20 World Cup squad. Axar, who was part of the 15-member squad will now be on the list of stand-by players.

Shardul Thakur.

Team India all-rounder Shardul Thakur has replaced Axar Patel in the T20 World Cup squad. Axar, who was part of the 15-member squad will now be on the list of stand-by players. Thakur was earlier in the list of India's stand-by players  BCCI

BCCI has also named eight players - Avesh Khan, Umran Malik, Harshal Patel, Lukman Meriwala, Venkatesh Iyer, Karn Sharma, Shahbaz Ahmed and K Gowtham - who will "join the team bubble in Dubai and assist Team India in their preparations".

The T20 World Cup will be played in the UAE and Oman. UAE is currently hosting the second leg of IPL 2021. Thakur is part of the Chennai Super Kings, which has reached its ninth IPL final.

Thakur has picked up 13 wickets in the UAE leg of the IPL. With the bat, he was sent at No. 4 in the qualifier against Delhi Capitals. He, however, fell for a first-ball duck.

Thakur could be a backup for seam-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya. Hardik didn't bowl for the Mumbai Indians during the IPL, and that is a concern for India heading into the World Cup.

 

Meanwhile, Malik's rise -- from a Covid-19 replacement to a net bowler for the World Cup -- has been meteoric. Coming in as a short-term replacement for T. Natarajan, Malik featured in three games for Sunrisers Hyderabad and impressed with his speed. While Malik had to warm the bench in the first few games of the second leg, he was handed the cap against Kolkata Knight Riders last week and the youngster clocked 146-plus speed in the very first over, and he entered 150s twice on the speed gun. A couple of days later, he kept the momentum in the fixture against RCB, where he clocked 153 kph - the fastest delivery of the season.

While he has not featured in a first-class game yet, Umran made it to the limited overs team of Jammu and Kashmir earlier this year and featured in two fixtures - a T20 and a 50-over game.

Avesh too has had a rewarding season with Capitals; he has picked up 23 wickets in 15 games. Royal Challengers Bangalore quick Harshal is the Purple Cap holder in IPL 2021 with a record-equalling 32 strikes.