Indian T20 squad: Focus is on youngsters as team takes on South Africa

The coach has already expressed his views that he is looking out for young players to come out and showcase their caliber in order to get into the Indian T20 squad for World Cup.

The Indian Cricket team is in high spirits right now after winning their first series of World Test Championships against West Indies away from home. And with the Indian T20 squad announced yesterday, the team is now strongly prepping up to start off for South Africa series at home starting from September 15 with three T20Is followed by a test series. Therefore, there would be a lot to look out for as new players are set for the T20 series. As predicted, Dhoni has been dropped again from the series and the spot is being given to Rishabh Pant.

The BCCI council and the coach Ravi Shastri are currently looking at the bigger picture. As the T20 World Cup is approaching, it is important that young players must be a part of Indian T20 squad and get a chance to play as many as of the shortest formats possible, but also keeping the ongoing World Test Championship in focus as well. And for T20Is, the coach has already expressed his views that he is looking out for young players to come out and showcase their caliber in order to get into the World Cup squad of the team. Though Jasprit Bumrah, Buvaneshwar Kumar and as we all know Dhoni will be absent from the squad for Bumrah, the management has decided him to rest for this in order to prep up for the Test series.

Indian T20 Squad:

Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini

There are few newbies who have a chance to be in the spotlight for their performances during this three-match series against South Africa will be closely watched by everyone.

Here are the Indian cricketers to watch out for against South Africa T20I series:

Krunal Pandya

One can say that he is just like his younger brother Hardik Pandya who has done marvels whenever he has batted or bowled on the field. One of the biggest reasons for including Krunal Pandya in the Indian T20 squad against South Africa is because of his starlit performance during the IPL for Mumbai Indians. He is a left-arm spinner and bats as well which puts him in the list of the lower-order batsmen in the team.

He was also included in the T20I series against West Indies in Florida where India won by 7 wickets but Krunal Pandya was not able to take any wickets in the 4 overs that he bowled. Looking at his T20I bowling career so far then the player has got the chance to play 14 matches in which he has taken 14 wickets with an average of 31.57 and a strike rate of 23.79. He will act as a crucial addition to the T20 squad, as India needs such a spinner in the shortest format. Looks like he is one of the required picks for the team and he will look forward to giving his best shot.

Washington Sundar

Being a newcomer in the team, Washington Sundar very well reminds all of us of Ravichandran Ashwin. This 19-year-old off-spinner is the youngest inclusion in the Indian T20 squad and looks like he will be used in the crucial overs against South Africa. The player also played his last T20I against West Indies in Florida. Also, he was a star player in the IPL grabbing as many wickets he can during the tournament and that led him to have a chance of his lifetime to get an entry in the Indian cricket team.

Talking about his T20I career then he has just played 10 matches in which he was successful in grabbing 12 wickets with an average of 18.50 and an economy of 6.16. The best part about this player is that he is matured beyond his age. Not just this, the youngster is able to bowl tight and is also flexible. Not only he can open the bowling attack but he can bowl at the death as well. He has defined angles and variations which are spot-on and become difficult for the batsmen to hit.

Navdeep Saini

Indian T20 squad will surely be needing fast-bowlers for this series as Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Bumrah are being rested. Therefore, Kohli’s pick is Navdeep Saini who will be playing his second T20 international series. The last series he played was against West Indies in Florida where he was successful in proving his worth. Just in 3 matches, the player picked up 5 wickets with an economy rate of 7.09. Everyone was really impressed with the way he was bowling.

Though he is a rookie, he will be learning a lot with time as Kohli will most probably test him in the death overs where a fast bowler is needed the most. Navdeep Saini, who can clock a speed of 150 kmph, was the second-highest wicket-taker in the 5-match unofficial ODI series for India A in the West Indies. Therefore, he was considered for the T20I series as well.

Rahul Chahar

The most important reason behind the inclusion of Rahul Chahar is that the Indian T20 squad needs a variety of spin attacks apart from Ravindra Jadeja and Krunal Pandya. And this 20-year-old is one of a kind. Though he has played just one T20I last month against West Indies where he grabbed a wicket with an economy of 9.00. Though India already has the experienced spinners like Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, it is important for BCCI to try the youngsters for the T20 World Cup next year in Australia.

The fact is not hidden that the team India majorly failed in the ICC World Cup and the reason behind that was the No. 4 spot and the inconsistency of the players. Therefore, the selectors, the coach, and the skipper are now extremely cautious of picking up each player for every series which is scheduled ahead. There are a lot of players who are waiting to get that one chance and not everyone will get many chances to prove themselves. In the current situation, it seems that the young players are getting one series to prove their game, if they get successful, their chances are high in getting selected for the T20 World Cup, if not, they are simply ousted from the team.

This kind of selection process is necessary because the game is not just fast in the shortest format, but Indian T20 squad also needs allrounders to keep the game moving at every stage. Thus, it is vital to have players who can face players like Ben Stokes, Shakib Al Hasan, Glenn Maxwell to name a few. We all have seen the level of the game that Ben Stokes in playing these days and facing him with a ball and the bat is going to be extremely challenging as he is the master of all formats now.

Every single T20 match is going to be important for the young players in order to make it into the T20 World Cup squad and excitement is on its way!

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