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Opinion

Who should be in India's squad for the T20 World Cup?

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Roar Pro
14th June, 2020
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India is the unluckiest team in recent years, having lost almost every tournament in the knockout stages.

But this team has many capable players and it was very difficult to pick 15 players out of them.

Top order

Shikhar Dhawan
T20I stats: 59 innings, 1588 runs at 28.4, strike rate 128.3, ten fifties
Shikhar Dhawan is a quality ODI batsman but his T20 performance is quite underrated. He takes his time and then starts blazing after the power play with his firepower. So he will be my first-choice opener in the World Cup.

Rohit Sharma
T20I stats: 100 innings, 2773 runs at 32.6, strike rate 138.8, 21 fifties
Just like Dhawan, Rohit is the best limited-overs opener in the world in the current era. He is the second leading run-scorer in T20Is just behind Virat Kohli. He just takes the first ten balls to set and after that, there is a nightmare for bowlers. No one will be so stupid to not have him in the playing XI.

Virat Kohli (c)
T20I stats: 76 innings, 2794 runs at 50.8, strike rate 138.2, 24 fifties
As a top-order batsman, Kohli is one hell of a player. The Indian skipper is the leading run-scorer in T20Is with an exceptional average of 50.8. So there is nothing doubtful to have him in the team.

Virat Kohli.

(Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

Middle order

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Shreyas Iyer
T20I stats: 20 innings, 417 runs at 27.8, strike rate 129.5, two fifties
Whenever I watch Iyer playing against fast bowlers, he is just pure class. His pull is the shot that I am hooked to. He is the traditional player who improvises much during the batting. He never plays some unorthodox shots. He just sticks to the basics and adds some valuable runs.

KL Rahul (wicketkeeper)
T20I stats: 38 innings, 1461 runs at 45.6, strike rate 146.1, 11 fifties
My first-choice wicketkeeper will be KL Rahul due to his recent performances. Also, he has taken the gloves, which allows the team to play an extra batsman and resolves the keeping issues. He has started batting down the order and finishing the games in the World Cup will be his duty. He can accelerate the innings and a strike rate of 146.1 justifies his hitting abilities.

Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper)
T20I stats: 25 innings, 410 runs at 20.5, strike rate 121.7, two fifties
Rishabh Pant is my back-up keeper and can also be in the team if Rahul opens the innings. Due to his recent poor form, he will not be my first-choice keeper but can provide an option in the batting line-up.

India's Rishabh Pant runs during their Twenty20 match at Eden Park against New Zealand.

(AP Photo/David Rowland)

All-rounders

Hardik Pandya
T20I stats: 25 innings, 310 runs at 16.3, strike rate 147.6; 39 innings, 38 wickets at 25.7, economy rate 8.35
Pandya is the best all-rounder India currently has. Having a strike rate of almost 150, he can single-handedly take the games away from the opposition. He is also very valuable with bowling and can provide the team four overs at a good economy rate. His high pace and perfect bouncers make him the perfect fast bowler.

Vijay Shankar
T20 stats: 70 innings, 1356 runs at 26.1, strike rate 129.1, four fifties; 48 innings, 26 wickets at 35.1, economy rate 8.41
Shankar is the batting all-rounder who bats in the middle order and carries the innings. He is not a typical all-rounder who bats in the lower order and plays a quick cameo. With the ball, he is quite effective and can provide team a sixth bowler option.

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Ravindra Jadeja
T20I stats: 23 innings, 173 runs at 12.3, strike rate 101.8; 49 innings, 39 wickets at 29.5, economy rate 7.10
Jadeja is another all-rounder who can hit the ball hard and score some quick runs. He is a more economical bowler and not a wicket-taking option. He bowls quickly with not much turn, which would be very useful in Australian conditions.

Bowlers

Yuzvendra Chahal
T20I stats: 42 innings, 55 wickets at 24.3, economy rate 8.18
Nowadays wrist spinners are effective in T20 cricket and it is must to play at least one wrist spinner in the team. Chahal is a wicket-taking option in the middle overs, which helps them to restrict the scoreboard in the middle overs. He bowls the ball away from batsmen, which makes it difficult to smash the ball.

Kuldeep Yadav
T20I stats: 20 innings, 39 wickets at 13.8, economy rate 7.11
Another wrist spinner, but a left-armer, is the key bowler of India. Kuldeep has a lot of skill and many options like leg spin, google or his stock deliveries. All of them require good accuracy and control. The duo of Chahal and Kuldeep is the deadly combination.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar
T20I stats: 43 innings, 41 wickets at 26.5, economy rate 7.04
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the bowler who can swing the ball at a good pace. He has improved his pace a lot after his comeback and that helps him in the death overs. He is also economical, having an economy rate of 7.04. So it was hard to exclude him from the squad.

Jasprit Bumrah
T20I stats: 49 innings, 59 wickets at 20.2, economy rate 6.66
Jasprit Bumrah is one of the finest bowlers in the world. He has an unorthodox action, which is enough to confuse batsmen. Besides having an unorthodox action, he can bowl at 145 kilometres per hour, which can trouble batsmen easily. His perfect yorkers and slower ones make him the perfect death bowler.

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Jasprit Bumrah and Virat Kohli

(Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)

Mohammed Shami
T20I stats: 11 innings, 12 wickets at 31.8, economy rate 9.63
Shami is another exciting fast bowler and a wicket-taking option for India. He is rapid but concedes so many runs in the attempt of the wicket. He has improved his pace by shortening the strides of his run-up, which helps him in T20 cricket.

Navdeep Saini
T20I stats: nine innings, 13 wickets at 18.1, economy rate 7.15
Saini is another young bowler having a hunger for taking wickets and passion for thriving in international cricket. He has played very little international cricket but his current form can guarantee his place in the squad. If the IPL had been played, then maybe he could have been replaced with some other exciting player.

First-choice playing XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami.

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