Team India to train in Perth ahead of T20 WC
Team India will set a two-week training camp at WACA, Perth, ahead of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, starting October 16. Besides, India will partake in two practice matches to acclimatize to the condition Led by Rohit Sharma, the Men in Blue will leave for Australia on October 5. They will play their opening game against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 23. Here's more.
"They [India] will be reaching Australia almost two to two-and-a-half weeks before the T20 World Cup. They will train and practice in Perth and play some practice matches amongst themselves and a few warm-up games," BCCI President Sourav Ganguly was quoted as saying by InsideSport.
"We are in talks with a few teams who will play games with us besides warm-up games kept by ICC. The entire T20 World Cup squad will travel to Australia on October 5 along with Dravid and his support staff," a BCCI official told the Times of India in last week's report.
India will partake in two practice matches arranged by ICC in a bid to adapt further to the Aussie conditions. They will be up against hosts and reigning champions Australia and 2021 runner-up New Zealand on October 17 and 19 respectively.
As per reports, the Men in Blue could opt for intra-squad matches if they don't get worthy opponents during the training camp. The inaugural World T20 champions were initially set to travel Down Under on October 9. However, they preponed their journey at Dravid's request. As stated, they will now leave on October 5, a day after the three-match T20I series against South Africa.
India will miss the services of all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja in the T20 World Cup. Jadeja recently underwent surgery on his injured right knee. An in-form Axar Patel came in as a replacement for the southpaw. The squad also includes R Ashwin, who has hovered around India's T20I side lately. Besides, there is no place for the talented Sanju Samson.
India's premium pacer Jasprit Bumrah on Thursday was ruled out of the upcoming T20 World Cup after suffering a stress fracture. The right-armer had missed the first T20I against South Africa after he complained of back pain. As per PTI, a BCCI official informed that Bumrah could be out of action for months. BCCI is yet to announce an official replacement.
As per reports, Mohammed Shami or Deepak Chahar could replace Bumrah for the coveted T20 tournament. Shami was included in India's T20I squad for the Australia and South Africa series, however, he was ruled out after contracting the novel coronavirus. Meanwhile, Chahar impressed heavily in the first T20I versus SA, picking up two scalps.
India's squad for the T20 World Cup: 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, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
