India’s upcoming T20I series against England will be a key contest for the hosts to take stock of their resources in a T20 World Cup year, and strengthen their backup options for the tournament later this year.
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With a few big names unavailable and a couple of prominent players returning, there’s going to be a good amount of chopping and changing from the line-up that featured in the T20Is against Australia in December. For most of the selection dilemmas mentioned, India are almost spoilt for choice, with a surplus of options at their disposal from their 19-member squad.
Here are five selection headaches for India ahead of the five-match series:
With Rohit and KL, does Dhawan become backup?
No opening pair has scored more runs than Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan in T20Is, but the two haven’t featured together at the top since late 2019. When Rohit was unavailable for a good part of the recent Australia tour, including India’s most recent T20I series, Dhawan combined with KL Rahul, IPL 2020’s leading run-getter, at the top of the order.
Rohit’s return opens up a dilemma – will he feature with Dhawan again, or will he combine with Rahul, forcing Dhawan, who recently hit 150 in a domestic List A game, to be a back-up option. Putting one of them down the order could be an alternative, but Virat Kohli wouldn’t want to bat lower than three, and an explosive middle order follows him, leaving little space for one of them to be accommodated.
Kishan, Tewatia are exciting, but they might just need to wait
After tantalising fans for years, Ishan Kishan finally converted promise into reliability in IPL 2020, a season that deservedly sealed his maiden India call-up. In the same tournament, Rahul Tewatia turned into an unlikely hero, rising from obscurity to popularity in days.
While their selection indicates a welcome shift in India’s approach towards T20 specialists, Kishan and Tewatia might have to wait before they’re able to find a spot. A jam-packed middle order, consisting of options like Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya, might keep Kishan out. Good enough to play as a specialist batsman alone, he’s also unlikely to don the wicketkeeping gloves ahead of the in-form Rishabh Pant. As for Tewatia, he will have to fight with powerplay expert Washington Sundar and in-form Axar Patel for the spin all-rounder’s spot and is unlikely to play ahead of either.
Suryakumar v Shreyas Iyer – who bats at No.4?
He might have been shunted up and down the order throughout his T20I career, but Iyer (if he plays) is likely to occupy the No.4 spot, given the firepower at the top and down the order. Fighting for the spot will be Suryakumar Yadav, whose domestic exploits and IPL performances have rewarded him with a long-awaited call-up at 30.
Over the last year, Shreyas has come up with lively cameos and has the ability to change gears at will based on the situation. Suryakumar, on the other hand, is a crowd favourite after his hard work in the IPL, but is identified more as an anchor, even though his strike-rate of 140.10 comfortably trumps Shreyas’ figure of 129.89.
Bhuvneshwar returns, but where exactly does he fit?
After spending considerable time on the sidelines due to injury, Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s India comeback will be complete when he features in the T20Is, a format he hasn’t played since December 2019. The 31-year-old will be locked in a tussle with Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur and Navdeep Saini – Chahar, in particular, will be a direct face-off, given their similar styles with the new ball.
What gives Bhuvneshwar the edge is his experience and ability to bowl well at the death, where Chahar has often been found wanting. With Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah unavailable, the experience on Bhuvneshwar’s side might be even more crucial to hold the attack together at home.
What would the spin attack look like?
India’s spin options for the series run deep – in Yuzvendra Chahal and Varun Chakravarthy, they have two specialist spinners, along with three spin all-rounders in Washington Sundar, Axar Patel and Rahul Tewatia. Experience-wise, though, the balance is a little skewed; Chahal and Washington are the only two out of the lot who have consistently featured in the T20I setup; Axar Patel last played in the format in 2018, and Tewatia and Chakravarthy are uncapped.
The latter is unlikely to make it to the first XI after recent reports of his dwindling fitness levels. In terms of experience, Chahal and Sundar are likely to take two spots, with Axar Patel a suitable like-for-like replacement for R Jadeja as a valuable third spinner and No.7.
