India announced their 15-member squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup squad in Australia and despite a poor Asia Cup showing, stuck to the same players. Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel are back from injury to bolster the pace attack while Axar Patel replaced the injured Ravindra Jadeja. Players like Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul, who have copped flak for their poor showing in the Asia Cup, have both made it to the squad.
Almost immediately after the team announced, the names of veteran pacer Mohammed Shami and wicket-keeper batter Sanju Samson started doing the rounds on Twitter and eventually started trending.
Both players are fan favourites and had great performances in the IPL 2022. Shami was the leading wicket taker for winners Gujarat Titans while Samson had impressed one and all by leading Rajasthan Royals to their first final since winning the trophy in 2008.
While Shami has made it to the list of stand by players, Samson has not been named at all.
India squad for ICC 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, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
Standby players - Mohd. Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Chahar.
Here are some reactions from fans: