T20 World Cup 2021: Top 3 youngest players to have played for India in tournament's history
The seventh edition of the ICC T20 World Cup got underway last Sunday in Oman. India are one of the 16 participants at the mega event. Initially, the tournament was supposed to take place in India. However, the BCCI ultimately decided to shift the competition to the Middle East, keeping the COVID-19 pandemic in mind.
India were the inaugural champions of the T20 World Cup. Playing under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, a young and inexperienced Indian squad stunned the heavyweights of the cricket world to become world champions.
It was common to see players aged around 20 to play for India on the big stage then. However, that trend does not exist now. This year, the youngest player in the Indian T20 World Cup squad is Rahul Chahar, who is 22 years and 78 days old.
Chahar is not even close to the age of the youngest Indian cricketer to have played in the ICC T20 World Cup. On that note, we will look at the three youngest Indians to have been a part of the playing XI in an ICC T20 World Cup game.
#3 Ishant Sharma - 20 years and 274 days
Indian pacer Ishant Sharma made his T20 World Cup debut in 2009. He is no longer present in the Indian white-ball squad, but there was a time when Sharma was one of the lead pacers.
Aged 20 years and 274 days, Ishant played his first T20 World Cup game against Bangladesh on June 6, 2009. The right-arm pacer played in all five matches for India in that competition, scalping two wickets. His best figures of 2/34 came on his T20 World Cup debut against Bangladesh.
#2 Ravindra Jadeja - 20 years and 188 days
Sir Ravi Jadeja
'09: Gets trolled for his performance in WT20 2009
'12: Only Indian to score 3 triple hundreds in FC Cricket
'17: Becomes no. 1 Test All Rounder & Bowler
Jul '19: Gets called a bits & pieces cricketer
Jul '19: Nearly wins a WC Semi Final for India
#CWC19
Ravindra Jadeja is currently one of the best all-rounders in world cricket. But back in 2009, he was not so experienced, and failed to deliver the goods for India in a must-win game. Jadeja made his T20 World Cup debut in 2009, aged 20 years and 188 days, against hosts England at Lord's.
India needed 154 runs to win, and MS Dhoni promoted Jadeja to number four. The southpaw scored 25 runs off 35 deliveries before returning to the dressing room. India lost that match by three runs.
However, Jadeja has come a long way since then.
#1 Rohit Sharma - 20 years and 140 days
Current Indian T20I vice-captain Rohit Sharma started his T20 international career at the inaugural T20 World Cup, which took place in 2007. Sharma was 20 years and 140 days old when he bagged a place in the Indian playing XI for the Super 8 match against England.
The right-handed batter did not get a chance to bat in that match, but he scored 88 runs in three innings later in the tournament. Rohit's contributions played a vital role in the Indian team's historic T20 World Cup title win.