India eased to a 3-0 win in the Twenty20 International series against West Indies, their first assignment after the World Cup, which was billed as one for the future stars.
To that end, there were a number of fringe players included in the squad, the idea being to allow them an extended opportunity to stake a claim in the side, with the Men’s T20 World Cup set to be played in a little over a year.
Suffice to say there were a few players who made the most of the opportunities, while some just didn’t get the chance. We look at them below:
Who made it count
Rahul Chahar: Rahul, Deepak Chahar’s cousin, did well in India A’s tour of the Caribbean, picking up six wickets in the one-dayers, and there were high hopes when he was called up for India for the T20Is. However, he only got one outing, and in that, he wasn’t as impressive as his cousin, who stole the limelight. Rahul picked the wicket of Carlos Brathwaite, the West Indies captain, for his maiden international scalp with his leg-spin, but was the most expensive bowler otherwise, conceding 27 runs in his three overs. He will need more chances to bed in.
Do you think Iyer will be mainstay in the Indian ODI line-up by the 2023 World Cup?https://t.co/0XAGJ6xFVl
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) July 29, 2019
Shreyas Iyer: Before the tour, the 24-year-old had lamented the plight of the fringe players. “If you keep coming in and going out [of the team], it doesn’t really set a good pattern for one’s self and you start disbelieving yourself,” he said. Iyer, as it turned out, didn’t make it to the XI for any of the T20Is. He is more likely to do that in the ODIs, where he could potentially be the answer to India’s No.4 worries – he is among India’s most consistent domestic performers. Despite that, the lack of game-time in the T20Is wouldn’t have done his mindset any favours. He will need to be managed carefully.
