ICC World T20 2021: Axar Patel replaced by Shardul Thakur

The 2021 ICC World T20 is less than a week away, as it gets underway in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman from Sunday. Meanwhile, as India bids for its second title in its seventh edition of the tournament, it has slightly changed its squad.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Wednesday that all-rounder Axar Patel would be replaced by pacer Shardul Thakur. However, the former has not been entirely dropped, as he remains on the standby list.

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"The All-India Senior Selection Committee, after a discussion with the team management, has added Shardul Thakur to the main squad. All-rounder Axar Patel, who was part of the 15-member squad, will now be on the list of standby players," announced BCCI in a statement.

"The following cricketers will join the team bubble in Dubai and assist Team India in their preparations: Avesh Khan, Umran Malik, Harshal Patel, Lukman Meriwala, Venkatesh Iyer, Karn Sharma, Shahbaz Ahmed and K. Gowtham," it added.

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Thakur has been in a dramatic form with the ball, being Chennai Super Kings (CSK) highest wicket-taker in the Indian Premier League (IPL) this season, claiming 18 wickets in 15 matches at an economy of 8.75, helping the side reach the final. Also, he can act as a finisher with the bat.

India's updated squad for WT20: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami
Reserve players: Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar and Axar Patel.