India have announced a 15-member squad led by Jasprit Bumrah that will take on Ireland in a three-match T20I series starting August 18. Here are the key takeaways from India’s squad.
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After the completion of their five-match T20I series against the West Indies on August 13, the Indian men’s team will travel to Ireland for a three-match T20I series, with games on August 18, 20, and 23.
However, the squad for the Ireland tour bears a near-new lookcompared to the one that will play in the West Indies: only seven players are common to the two squads.
India’s squad for the Ireland T20Is: Jasprit Bumrah (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vc), Sanju Samson (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravi Bishnoi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan.
Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna return from injury
The biggest takeaway from the Indian squad is the return of the pace duo of Bumrah and Prasidh. In fact, Bumrah returns not just as a player but as a leader in his first series for India after injury.
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Both have been out of action from international cricket for nearly a year. While Bumrah’s quality across formats is well known, India had invested heavily in Prasidh as well before he got injured. He had established himself as one of the first-choice fast bowlers in the ODI side, having picked 25 wickets from just 14 ODIs.
The 2023 ODI World Cup will be less than two months away when the Ireland series begins, which will provide both Bumrah and Krishna an opportunity to ease into international cricket and test out their match fitness. India will hope they come out unscathed and reach peak fitness by the time the World Cup comes around.
Ruturaj Gaikwad appointed vice-captain ahead of Sanju Samson
Gaikwad, who has been named as the captain of Indian Men for the Asian Games, has been appointed as Bumrah’s deputy for the Ireland series ahead of Samson.
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Samson has been leading Rajasthan Royals for several seasons now, and is a senior of Gaikwad, who does not have any leadership experience in the IPL or at the international level.
This appointment may indicate where the selectors think Samson stands in the pecking order, or it might just be a case of preparing Gaikwad for a leadership role before he leads the team in the Asian Games.
Rinku Singh rewarded for exceptional IPL season
Technically, Rinku’s first India call-up came when he was announced in the squad for the Asian Games a couple of weeks back, but the Ireland series will be his first stint with the national side given it is to be played before the inter-continental event.
Rinku had an exceptional IPL 2023 where he scored 474 runs at an average of 59.2 and a strike rate of 150, playing the finisher’s role to perfection for Kolkata Knight Riders. He also boasts of a first-class batting average of 57.82, showing that he can be a versatile, all-format player and that this might be the beginning of a long innings with the national side for him.
Opportunity for Shivam Dube to re-establish place in T20I side
Dube played a stellar role in Chennai Super Kings’ title-winning campaign in IPL 2023, scoring 418 runs at a strike rate of 158, hitting as many as 35 sixes in the tournament as he took down any and every kind of spin that was thrown at him in the middle overs.
Having made his T20I debut in 2019, Dube played 13 games for India in the format before being dropped in early 2020. At 30, he now has a golden opportunity to reestablish his place in the middle order as a monstrous spin-basher, a role that India has been found lacking in of late.
Lots of left-hand batters
The squad contains as many as six left-handed batting options, including four pure batters – Jaiswal, Tilak, Rinku, and Dube – along with two all-rounders, Sundar and Shahbaz.
Given India’s lack of southpaws in T20Is over the last couple of years, this is a good opportunity for India to give game time to, and identify a bunch of left-handed batters who they focus on in the coming years to improve the robustness of their T20I batting order.
Glimpse into the future of Indian T20I side?
India’s squad for this series does not include Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, or Shikhar Dhawan. The last time India played a T20I without any of these four players was in 2016.
There have been whispers about the selectors having quietly moved on from Rohit and Kohli in T20Is. Dhawan has already been discarded. Pandya has been leading the T20I side lately but has been rested for this series.
Indian cricket has entered a transition that is going to last for a while. This young squad selected for the seemingly inconsequential Ireland tour, squeezed between a full tour of the West Indies and the Asia Cup, gives a glimpse into what the Indian T20I side might look like post-transition.
