India's cricket squad for the forthcoming T20 World Cup arrived on Sunday morning, led by captain Rohit Sharma. Virat Kohli and vice-captain Hardik Pandya were noticeably absent from this initial batch. The team also comprised head coach Rahul Dravid and the rest of the support crew.
In addition to Rohit Sharma, players like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and Axar Patel were part of the arrivals, along with reserve players Shubman Gill and Khaleel Ahmed.
Kohli, fresh from participating in the IPL Eliminator in Ahmedabad, and Hardik, who headed to the UK post the IPL league stage, will join the squad later. Kohli, captaining Mumbai Indians for the first time, saw his team miss out on the playoffs this season.
Meanwhile, players from Rajasthan Royals, involved in Qualifier 2 in Chennai, such as Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Avesh Khan (reserve), are set to depart for New York on Monday.
India's last warm-up match before the World Cup will be against Bangladesh at the newly constructed Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. With the majority of its league fixtures planned at the same site, India hopes to use the warm-up fixture to acclimatise to the conditions.
The modular stadium, which includes a drop-in pitch, was finished earlier this month after starting from scratch in January.
India, seeking their first ICC crown since 2013, will face Ireland in their World Cup opener on June 5. Notably, the United States will co-host an ICC event for the first time, marking their international tournament debut.
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