MS Dhoni to play mentor at T20 World Cup; R Ashwin included in squad, Shikhar Dhawan dropped | Cricket News – Times of India

MUMBAI: World Cup and World T20-winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been selected in the India squad for the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup that the BCCI will host in the UAE between October 17 and November 14. Except that Dhoni will be part of the team as mentor.
The former India captain will work with head coach Ravi Shastri and the rest of the coaching staff during the entire tournament.
The BCCI, on Wednesday, announced a squad of 15, and three standbys, that will be led by Virat Kohli.
While the selectors were in the process of pruning this squad from a very large pool over the last couple of weeks, BCCI secretary Jay Shah spoke with Kohli and Shastri about the idea of bringing Dhoni on board as mentor before making an offer to Dhoni.

It was an offer the former India wicket-keeper-batsman couldn’t refuse because the board insisted how his rich experience in the format, and the fact that he was the first captain to win this tournament 14 years ago, would immensely help the team.
Dhoni readily agreed to Shah’s request and will now join the team immediately after the Indian Premier League (IPL) Phase-2, which is also being played in the UAE. The Chennai Super Kings skipper will be in the UAE, leading his franchise in the tournament that will be his cricketing swansong.
“I spoke with Dhoni when I was in Dubai. He agreed to be a mentor for the T20 World Cup only. The captain, vicecaptain and the head coach were consulted, which is why he is on board,” Shah told reporters after the team was announced.
Ravichandran Ashwin, who has been in the news lately for not being part of the Test matches against England, has been picked in the T20 squad.

Chief selector Chetan Sharma pointed out that a bowler like Ashwin would be highly useful in UAE conditions, has done well in the IPL and, further bearing in mind that the young Washington Sundar happens to be nursing an injury.
“He will add immensely to the balance of the squad,” Sharma said.
Bowling all-rounder Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who played the recent white-ball series in Sri Lanka under Rahul Dravid’s coaching, has also been picked.
Among the notable absentees is opener Shikhar Dhawan who, despite being the top-scorer in IPL 2020 and phase-1 of IPL 2021, has been left out. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who did well in the 2020 edition of the IPL and has been a constant in Team India’s white-ball plans, was also ignored.
Among some other surprising decisions, the selectors chose to put talented middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer – who’s just returned from an injury break – in the standbys alongside all-rounders Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar.
These aspects aside, the rest of the team has picked itself.
The squad of 15 includes three openers (including Kohli), five all-rounders, two wicket-keeper-batsmen, three pacers, one spinner and one specialist middle-order batsman. The standbys include a middle-order batsman and two allrounders.
“The idea was to pick as many utility players as possible, keeping the UAE conditions in mind,” Sharma said while announcing the team.
Sharma also added that all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who returned to cricket last year after a long injury break and has had restricted bowling stints, is now ready to bowl his full quota of overs in T20s.