After a flop show in Asia Cup 2022, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has a tricky task ahead of them to announce the 2022 T20 World Cup squad which will commence on October 16 in Australia. Team India left the Asia Cup with several unanswered questions, while Virat Kohli’s return to form turned out to be only positive for the Men in Blue.
KL Rahul didn’t have the best of the tournament in the UAE and scored just one half-century which came in the dead rubber against Afghanistan. While Rohit Sharma also failed to perform at his best in Asia Cup but his fluent fifty against Sri Lanka somehow released some pressure off his shoulders. India are expected to stick with the Rahul-Rohit duo at the top as Virat Kohli will be another option who can open the innings if they want to make the change mid-tournament.
Kohli ended up as India’s leading run-getter in Asia Cup with 276 runs in 5 matches which makes him a certainty in India’s squad for the World Cup.
In the middle order, Suryakumar Yadav is arguably one of the best in the business at the moment with his 360-degree playing abilities. Apart from him, the selectors have to take tough calls to pick other middle-order batters. Rishabh Pant has not been at his best, while Deepak Hooda didn’t get many opportunities in Asia Cup to showcase his talent. It will be interesting to see whether India will make a surprise call by picking Sanju Samson in the squad. Dinesh Karthik is another wicketkeeper who will be under the selectors’ radar as he can play the finisher’s role in the XI.
Hardik Pandya is almost a certainty in India’s T20 set-up, he provides the right balance to the team but Ravindra Jadeja’s injury caused several problems for the selectors. Axar Patel is expected to get a place in the squad as a like-to-like replacement for Jadeja.
In the spin-bowling department, Yuzvendra Chahal is the only spinner who can be considered as a certainty, apart from him, India are still struggling to find the right partner for him. Ravichandran Ashwin might get a nod to take the flight to Australia.
Fast bowling is another department where India struggled miserably in the Asia Cup 2022. The reports suggested that Harshal Patel and Jasprit Bumrah have recovered from their injuries which is a great sign for the Men in Blue. Arshdeep Singh also has the advantage of being the only left-arm pacer currently in India’s set-up. While the race for the fourth pacer’s slot will be between Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar and Mohammad Shami.
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