Five takeaways from India’s ODI & T20I squads against New Zealand

Senior players Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been rested for the tour, which will begin five days after the 2022 T20 World Cup final. Hardik Pandya will lead the T20I team, while Shikhar Dhawan has been named the skipper of the three 50-over matches.

India’s T20I squad: Hardik Pandya (c), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik.

India’s ODI squad: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Shahbaz Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Sen, Umran Malik.

Where is Prithvi Shaw?

With each omission, one cannot help but be convinced that Shaw’s absence is due to non-cricketing reasons. One of the most aggressive white-ball batters in the country, Shaw has played six ODIs and one T20I. His last international appearance was in July 2021, in Sri Lanka.

Shaw has also played five Test matches, but is not in consideration after glaring technical flaws came to the fore in Australia in 2020/21. However, his white-ball form has been impressive. In the last two seasons of the IPL, he has made 762 runs at a strike rate of 157, which rises to 163 in the powerplay overs.

Shaw scored 827 runs in the 2020/21 Vijay Hazare Trophy, the most by any player in a single season of the tournament. However, disciplinary issues have plagued him throughout his career. During the 2018/19 tour of Australia, the management was reportedly unhappy with the “lack of effort” put in by him. A few months later, he was banned for eight months for a doping violation. Reports also emerged that his state team Mumbai’s manager was left fuming following Shaw’s off-field activities after a 2020/21 Ranji Trophy clash against Baroda.

Chetan Sharma, the chair of selectors, explained at the press conference: “We are in constant touch with him, he’s doing well. There is nothing wrong with him at all. The thing is we have to look at the set-up, we are trying to give chances to those who are performing and are already in the set-up. He will definitely get his chances very soon the way he is batting, even whenever we are there for matches we are talking to him.”

While that is reassuring, the fact remains that Shaw finds himself out of contention.

Jasprit Bumrah is yet to recover

Reports over the extent of Bumrah’s injury did the rounds after he was ruled out of the T20 World Cup. There were contrasting reports over the duration of his absence. Some stated that he would be out for six weeks due to a stress reaction, while others claimed that he had a stress fracture that would take at least four months to heal.

Bumrah was officially ruled out of the World Cup in the first week of October, and does not feature in India’s squads for this December’s Bangladesh tour either. With no official communication from the BCCI over his injury, we are left guessing, but his absence only suggests that his injury is far more serious than what was thought.

Hardik Pandya pips Rishabh Pant in the captaincy pecking order

Pant has been leading Delhi Capitals in the IPL since 2021, and was named Indian captain for their home series against South Africa this June when Rohit Sharma opted out out KL Rahul was injured. Pandya, the Gujarat Titans captain, was his deputy. Later, Pant was also named vice-captain to Bumrah for the fifth Test against England this year, after Rohit and Rahul missed the game.

Pandya stepped up when the regulars were absent. He was captain of the India side in the two T20Is in Ireland, which did not feature any of the Test regulars, and had to play under Pant against South Africa in June. However, his maturity and calmness under pressure have come to the fore of late, attracting praise from Kohli. He also led the unfancied Titans to the IPL title this year, and has the qualities of a successful leader.

Making him the captain despite the presence of Pant, who failed to inspire with his tactics at the helm, indicates that Pandya is being looked at for a leadership role in the future.

The IPL quicks have been rewarded

Kuldeep Sen makes it to the ODI team, while Umran Malik has been picked in both formats. Malik made his international debut in July, but played only three T20Is without impressive returns. However, the last few months have seen massive improvements.

Malik was economical in the India A series against New Zealand A and was unplayable in his spell of 3-25 in the Irani Trophy. In the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, India’s domestic T20 season, he has taken eight wickets in seven games with best figures of 4-27.

Sen, who impressed Ian Bishop during the 2022 IPL, for his nerves in pressure moments, picked up eight scalps in the tournament in seven games and gets a maiden call-up.

End of the road for Dinesh Karthik and R Ashwin in white-ball cricket?

Both Ashwin and Karthik make for inspiring comeback stories. While Ashwin got a T20I call-up for the first time in four years ahead of the 2021 T20 World Cup, Karthik, too made an impressive return to the side for the first time since 2019 this year after an impressive IPL.

Karthik, in particular, was backed heavily by the management. The team designated him as a specialist finisher and preferred him to Pant in the XI. However, failures against Pakistan and South Africa at the T20 World Cup, combined with a couple of missed chances with the big gloves indicate that a possible end to the journey. After all, he is 37.

Ashwin averages 38.11 with the ball in 2022, picking up eight wickets in 11 T20I innings with a strike rate of 32.2. Picked in the side for his defensive bowling, he has done an excellent job. His economy rate of 7.11 is the second-best among Indian spinners who have bowled 10 overs this year. However, the fact that he is not in contention for a spot in a squad that has three spinners may mean curtains.