India had announced the squad for the T20I series against England, and there were a few surprises, as far as the remaining side is concerned.
India had announced a 19-men squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series against England. While Virat Kohli will be leading the side, and Rohit Sharma will be his deputy, there were a few surprises, as far as the remaining side is concerned.
Mumbai batsman Suryakumar Yadav has finally made it to the Indian T20I side after consistent performances over the past couple of years in domestic cricket as well as the IPL, playing for the Mumbai Indians.
Another Mumbai Indians batsman and one of the stars of the IPL 2020, Ishan Kishan has also been drafted into the side as the second wicket-keeper, along with Rishabh Pant.
Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Y Chahal, Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel, W Sundar, R Tewatia, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep, Shardul Thakur. https://t.co/KkunRWtwE6
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 20, 2021
Another cricketer, who had a sensational IPL was the Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Rahul Tewatia. Tewatia scored 300-plus runs and took 10-plus wickets as he was one of the very few bright stars for the Royals.
Apart from those three, there were usual suspects with pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar coming back into the line-up.
However, will all these players making it to the 19-member squad, there will be a need to see who all will make it to the playing XI.
1. KL Rahul or Rishabh Pant
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With Rishabh Pant making a comeback and KL Rahul 2nd on the list of T20I batsmen ranking, the management will be in a tough spot as to who to select as their wicketkeeper-batsman.
Pant's inclusion could mean that KL Rahul, who till a few months back was the first choice keeper-opener, is unlikely to don the big gloves.
2. Shreyas Iyer or KL Rahul or Suryakumar Yadav
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If the management wants to add KL Rahul to the squad, the only place that can be slotted is No 4 but Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav are also jostling for the same place. While Surya, is a sentimental favourite, Shreyas has done nothing wrong.
But when it comes to a three-way battle between Rahul, Shreyas and Surya, the Karnataka man could beat the two Mumbai boys with his repertoire of strokes and ability to shift gears.
3. Rohit Sharma or Shikhar Dhawan or KL Rahul
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While Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma were a settled white ball opening pair, the emergence of KL Rahul as a potent white-ball specialist has spiced up the competition.
While Dhawan recently had a score of 150 odd in the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Delhi, Rohit has been the main scorer for India in the recently concluded Test against England.
So if the team management fit in Rahul, who has been a successful IPL opener, will he be slotted in the middle-order or an opener. And if an opener, who could lose their spot?
4. Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Deepak Chahar or Shardul Thakur
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Bhuvneshwar Kumar is coming back after a long lay-off and will be engaged in a two-way fight with Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur.
While mostly he may lead the pace attack in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar and his experience and being a better bowler at the death holds him in good stead.
His only drawback could be that he hasn't played a lot of cricket save a few Mushtaq Ali games.
5. Yuzvendra Chahal or Washington Sundar or Axar Patel
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Three spinners - Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel - are expected to feature in the playing XI on the sluggish Motera tracks.
While all three could get a chance to feature with two of them being all-rounders, there could be a chance only one - Sundar or Patel - could feature.
