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Follow UsIt’s only been a couple of days since India’s heartbreaking defeat in the 2023 World Cup final, but the focus has already started shifting to next year’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the United States. The exact two teams who featured in the grand finale of the recently concluded ODI World Cup are set to collide once again, this time in a five-match T20I series, starting in Visakhapatnam on Thursday (November 23).
Many Indian players have been rightly rested for the series, with Suryakumar Yadav captaining for the first time in international cricket. The 33-year-old is arguably the best T20 batter of the current generation and is one of the four certain-starters in India’s ideal XI for the 2024 T20 World Cup. Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah are the other three but they won’t be featuring in this series.
Here, we look at the remaining seven slots up for grabs.
TOP-ORDER
(Confirmed - Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav)
(Other options - Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad)
SKY had a horrid ODI World Cup, however, the 33-year-old is a different beast altogether in the 20-over format. The top-ranked T20I batter has an average of 61.89 and a strike rate of 159.6 in T20Is since the last T20 World Cup and is the first name you would put in the batting line-up. Meanwhile, Gill has been rested for this series but you would expect him to take one of the two opening slots after what he did in the IPL 2023.
That leaves us with just one remaining spot and three aforementioned options, unless Rohit Sharma, who hasn’t played a single T20I since the last WC, makes a dramatic return. Now, let’s look at what India actually need. If Gill is a sure-starter, you would need his partner to be more aggressive, someone who can operate at a good strike rate in the powerplay. Gill could look to bat long and having someone like Jaiswal would surely allow him to do so.
The young left-hander has already played nine T20Is and has a century to his name. On top of that, he has a strike rate of 167.57, and can also bowl a bit of leg-spin. Jaiswal has a strike rate of 161 in the powerplay in T20s since the last WC in Australia. Then there is Gaikwad, who has operated at 141.9 but has a way better average than Jaiswal. The two are equally good against pace and spin, but Jaiswal’s left-handedness could give him some advantage.
This series will allow Jaiswal and Gaikwad to have a straight shoot-out for that second opening slot. Kishan has also been picked in the squad despite producing terrible numbers in this format. The wicketkeeper-batter from Jharkhand has only managed 143 runs in his last 10 T20I innings and that too at a strike rate of just 95.3. His weakness against spin is also well-documented. For now, Jaiswal and Gaikwad are way ahead of him.
MIDDLE-ORDER AND ALL-ROUNDERS
(Confirmed - Hardik Pandya)
(Other options - Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jitesh Sharma, Shreyas Iyer)
Pandya is still recovering from his ankle injury and won’t be part of this series. The ace all-rounder, however, will soon be back and is also expected to lead India in the next T20 World Cup. The 30-year-old will take one of the slots in the middle-order, but what about the rest? The team management would also want at least two bowling options in the top-seven and someone who can also bat at No. 8.
Pandya’s absence will allow India to play at least three of Tilak, Rinku, Dube and Jitesh. If Kishan doesn’t fit in the top-order, Jitesh becomes an obvious pick. The wicketkeeper-batter from Vidarbha isn’t a run-accumulator but tends to play those game-changing cameos down the order. If you compare him with other names mentioned above, Jitesh’s strike rate of 152.3 in the first 10 deliveries is the second-best after Tilak (153.3). He doesn’t need too many deliveries to get going and that’s exactly what you want in the last few overs.
Talking about Tilak, the 21-year-old is a generational talent and has already stamped his authority in the IPL. In 10 T20I innings, the left-hander has five 25-plus scores and has gone about his business at an SR of 142.59. What’s more, Tilak is also a very decent off-spinner, giving India a bowling option in the top-four. He will need to have a really bad few months to not feature in the ideal XI.
What about Rinku and Dube? Both of them could very well be part of India’s XI against Australia, however, that might not be the case once Pandya returns. If you combine both of them, you will get almost a perfect T20 middle-order batter. While Rinku is destructive against pace, Dube eats spin for breakfast. While Dube could give you an over or two of gentle medium pace, Rinku has unbelievable numbers in death overs and is a livewire on the field.
Iyer has also been added to the squad for the last two T20Is and it would be interesting to see how India use him. The right-hander has been in good form but prefers batting in the top-four. Just like Dube, Iyer enjoys batting against spin, as his strike rate of 148.73 in T20Is would suggest. Both Iyer and Dube have similar strengths and weaknesses and ideally only one of them would make the squad. There’s also a possibility of bringing back Sanju Samson.
Considering the T20 WC is happening in the West Indies, we could see more of both Axar and Washington. By recent numbers, Axar has been way better than Washington in this format. The former has an average of 32.8 and a strike rate of 152.3 with the bat in T20s since the last WC, which is far better than Washington (16.5 and 118.2).
Even in the bowling department, the left-arm spinner has a strike rate of 27.8, compared to Washington’s 37.8. Both have leaked runs at an economy of 7.4. Howbeit, there’s also a chance of seeing both of them in the same XI. The surfaces in the West Indies will assist spin and India could easily field three tweakers in the XI. This will also give them some much-needed batting depth.
FRONTLINE SPINNER
(Options - Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal)
Chahal has played the most T20Is since the last World Cup but is now last in the pecking order. The leg-spinner has an average of 28.5 and an economy of 8.7 in 11 T20Is and is far behind Kuldeep and Bishnoi. The latter has produced the best numbers in T20s amongst all three in the last one year - 38 wickets @ 19.3 and an economy of 6.9.
Kuldeep doesn’t have the same amount of wickets but has been economical - 18 scalps @ 27.9 and an economy of 6.8. The left-arm wristspinner has improved immensely in the last few months and could start ahead of Bishnoi once he is back. There is not much to pick when it comes to their batting, but Bishnoi is the only one who can find those odd boundaries.
There is also a possibility that India could field an XI in the West Indies without a wrist-spinner, with Axar and Washington being the two finger spinners, getting some help from Tilak. And three quicks to go with them.
PACERS
(Confirmed - Jasprit Bumrah)
(Other options - Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Mohammed Shami)
Let’s not waste our time talking about what Bumrah brings to the table. The ace paceman is brilliant across all three phases and will lead India’s bowling attack in the WC. Hence, there are possibly two slots up for grabs. India have played 18 T20Is since the last WC and Arshdeep has featured in 17 of them, picking up 15 wickets at an economy of 8.7. The left-arm seamer, however, has been slightly expensive (economy 10.4) in the death overs.
But again, do India even have an outright option for that role? What India can do is use Pandya and a powerplay specialist for the initial phase and keep two or three overs of Bumrah for the end. Siraj and Shami are the two best powerplay bowlers India have in their arsenal and they could easily have one of them in the squad. Shami is the one in form, but Siraj has better numbers in this format.
He has an economy of less than six and an average of 17.3 in the powerplay, while the corresponding numbers for Shami are 7.5 and 19.4. Siraj is also slightly more economical at the death - 9.1 vs 9.8. India could also have one of Prasidh or Avesh for the middle overs. The two hit-the-deck bowlers, however, haven’t played enough T20s due to respective injuries. While Avesh has played 13 T20s since the last WC, Prasidh has featured in only seven.
Avesh has an average of 18.6 and an economy of 7.2 in the middle overs in the IPL, while the corresponding numbers for Prasidh are 28.9 and 8.5. These two would only come into contention if Arshdeep continues to have bad games. What Prasidh and Avesh do in the middle overs could also be done by Pandya. For now, Bumrah, Arshdeep and Shami/Siraj seem to be India’s frontline fast bowlers.
