Here it is. The Indian team for the World T20 to be held in the Caribbean has been announced. It is along the expected lines though I would have made some changes to the squad. For the record, let us look at the squad. The captain is Rohit Sharma and the vice captain is Hardik Pandya. The team is comprised of Virat Kohli, Jaiswal, Surya, Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Bumrah and Siraj. The team has enough spinners and enough pacers which looks solid, on paper. We know that some of these players will not be able to perform when brought under pressure. It is good to know that Rahul has not been considered.
I however feel that there are some players here who could have been replaced with better resources. For eg., Ravindra Jadeja. He is known as 3 dimensional player but has seldom performed when it mattered. Save for that one innings in the 2019 ODI World Cup in the semi-final, I struggle to remember a game where he has contributed meaningfully. The last ODI World Cup is an example where he alongwith Rahul killed the scoreboard to the point of no return. Jadeja is still good enough to be in the Test team but in white-ball cricket, I think his time in the shortest form is up. His bowling on placid pitches is also weak meaning if he is unable to contribute in two departments, he is not good enough to be in the team.
Slow pitches
The pitches in the Caribbean is likely to be slow and low. Not much different from the pitches in India. Gone are the days when the same pitches used to carry the ball to the keeper who would have standing far behind the stumps. It is not the same anymore. Hence, it calls for atleast 2 spinners but this team has 4 of them. Chahal is an surprising inclusion. I really do not see all the 4 spinners being part of the playing eleven. At the most, it will be just two of them.
I feel sad for Rinku Singh who did not perform badly in the few games he has played. He could have easily replaced Jadeja. Indian selectors need to be brave enough. They were when they dropped Rohit and Kohli from the T20 squad but now that both of them are back, it is back to square one.
Another surprising inclusion is that of Siraj. He is a decent Test match bowler but in T20, he just leaks runs by the bucketloads. It looks like this team is short of one pacer. I mean Arshdeep and Siraj cannot be trusted to be economical and pick up wickets. I do not know who could have replaced Siraj but the selectors and the board must know. If not, they have clearly failed.
Sanju is a good inclusion
Dube everyone writes that he has improved. I do not know that but I hope he has. For the sake of the nation. He cannot play as an all-rounder. With the impact player rule not applicable in World T20, what role does Dube has to play remains to be seen. I do not see him overtake Surya or Hardik. However, the one good selection I like is that of Sanju Samson. He has an abundance of talent and is in good form. He is probably mentally affected while playing for the nation.
The team management will have to help him on that front. If only he could improve that, he will be a handful for any team. I however foresee Pant overtaking him and getting the first opportunity. I do not think that Pant has a place in the squad. He is an excellent Test Match cricketer but quite lousy in T20.
Wrapping up Indian team for World T20
Indian team have often failed to deceive. Will this World Cup be any different? India does not possess batsmen with the same explosive ability of Head or Salt or McGurk and for that matter a hard hitting spinner like Narine.