Karn Sharma, Shahbaz Ahmed, Krishnappa Gowtham and Venkatesh Iyer have been sent back to India from the UAE to represent their respective states for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

The four fast bowlers, who have been asked to stay back, are Avesh Khan, Umran Malik, Harshal Patel and Lukman Meriwalla.

“There won’t be too many net sessions once the tournament starts. The National selectors feel that all the spinners especially would benefit if they go back and play Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for their respective states. They need match practice,”PTI quoted a BCCI official.

“Also in this heat with optional practice, we won’t need so many spinners,” he added.

MS Dhoni, who is appointed as the mentor of Team India for the T20 World Cup, seems to be in the thick of the preparations. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared photos of Dhoni, who is part of the Indian setup for the 2021 T20 World Cup as a mentor, giving throwdowns to the Indian batters.

India face Pakistan in their opening match of the tournament on Sunday.

Dhoni was appointed in the new role just before the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup was announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) last month. He recently led Chennai Super Kings to complete a remarkable comeback in IPL 2021 as they won their 4th title in their 9th final after missing out on the play-offs berth for the first time in their history last year in the UAE.

India has registered convincing wins over England and Australia in their two warm-up matches before the Super 12 stages.