WTC Final Ind Vs NZ: BCCI Announced a 20-man squad for the World Test Championship and the 5 match test series against England and all-rounder Hardik Pandya was dropped from the squad.
India will go face to face against New Zealand in the ICC World Test Championship in Southampton, England on 18th June of 2020. India was the table-toppers after the league stages of the world test championship with 520 points. India won 12 games and ended with a win percentage of 72.2%. They lost 4 games, two against New Zealand in 2020.
New Zealand on other hand, was second on the table with 420 points. They won 7 games and lost 4, including a 3-0 whitewash in Australia. They had a win percentage of 70.
The Indian team is also scheduled to play a 5-match test series against England starting in August after the World Test Championship finals. They will leave on the 2nd of June after spending 8 days in a bio-bubble.
WTC Final Ind Vs NZ: Why was Hardik Pandya dropped from the WTC Squad?
Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya was not included in the squad and his omission came as a surprise for many. The all-rounder has the potential to change the game on its head and he has done the same in the past as well.
The main reason for dropping him is his fitness at the moment. Pandya is nursing a shoulder niggle caused during the IPL 2021 and is unable to bowl at the moment and with Hanuma Vihari and Ravindra Jadeja back as the all-rounders in the squad, it wouldn’t have been a great decision to pick him as a pure batsman.
He didn’t even bowl in the IPL as well. Hardik last played a Test in 2018 when India toured England. Other big names who were dropped are Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Prithvi Shaw.
BCCI announced a 20 member squad with 4 stand-by players for the World Test Championship Finals and the 5 match test series against England. Some big names like Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Hanuma Vihari, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma, etc returned to the squad after injury. All-rounder Axar Patel has retained his spot.
India Squad for the WTC Final and England Series
Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane (VC), Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav.
Stand By Players: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, and Arzan Nagaswalla
Also Read: India’s WTC Final Replacement Players