The Ajit Agarkar-led senior selection committee will met in Mumbai on Saturday afternoon to pick India’s squad for the upcoming bilateral series against New Zealand and more importantly for the T20 World Cup scheduled to begin on February 7. The selection is expected to be largely on the expected lines with no major changes from the squad that was named to play the T20Is against South Africa.
Having largely played with a similar group since the last T20 World Cup, India, under Suryakumar Yadav as captain and Gautam Gambhir as head coach, have preferred to have a settled squad. In the recent times, the only major decision that the selectors took in terms of the T20 side was to bring Shubman Gill into the fold and make him vice-captain. However, with Gill struggling since his return to the team at the Asia Cup, Ishan Kishan stuck a timely century in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 final.
Gill vs Ishan?
This definitely doesn’t look like a question at this stage with the T20 World Cup less than two months away. While Gill’s form has definitely been concerning, should India decide to ring changes at the top, they would look inside and go for Sanju Samson who has done exceptionally well at the top. Sending Samson up the order would also free-up another slot for India to accommodate either an all-round option or a specialist batsman in the XI.
So the chances of Gill not ending up in the squad for a second successive T20 World Cup looks unlikely at this stage. However, with Yashasvi Jaiswal struggling with fitness issue, should the selectors prefer another back-up option then Ishan could come into the picture. But that would mean India have three wicketkeepers in the squad. With Samson ahead of the pecking order even if India want to look beyond Gill, the chances are slim for Ishan to make the cut. He may have an outside chance when it comes to making the reserves list.
What about Rinku?
The middle-order batsman has been part of the T20 squad in recent months, but with India preferring multi-dimensional players he missed out to Washington Sundar. Going by the recent trends, all things point out to Washington taking the spot, although it was Rinku who got the nod for Asia Cup. With Hardik Pandya around to play the finisher’s role and Jitesh Sharma also in the mix, the selectors could see Rinku as a surplus to their requirements now.
Washington, on the other hand, provides all-round option. With the World Cup being played in India and Sri Lanka, if the pitches slow down, Washington will provide much-needed balance to the squad and against teams loaded with left-handed batsmen, will offer favourable match-ups. Moreover, he can also be banked to bowl in the powerplay, which India prefer from their spinners.
For the rest of the spots in the squad there are no real debates with Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana being the designated frontline pacers. In the spin department, there is Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav to go with Axar Patel and Washington. The batting line-up will comprise of Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube alongside Pandya and the two wicketkeepers.
