Yet again, the announcement of the Indian squad for the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 came as a bolt from the blue, indicating that the BCCI is getting better and better at it each time.
Important selection committee meetings are held without as much as a mention of the timings of the meetings or possible press conferences to discuss the ins and outs of these announcements.
As always, there are a few questions but there are no forthcoming answers from the selectors. Over the past 11 months since the disaster of the 2021 T20 World Cup, the selectors and the team management have been following a particular path.
The Team India squad for the upcoming 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.
(Photo: The Quint)
India has played the maximum number of T20Is in the last 11 months, meaning a number of regular players had to be rested. This had given hope to several younger claimants that they could have a chance to win a ticket to Australia for the T20 World Cup.
Ishan Kishan, for one, would feel hard done by if not included in the squad. Along the way, Sanju Samson’s social media warriors had also entered the fray and during the hot months of April-May this year, everyone had jumped on the Umran Malik bandwagon.
But everyone who follows Indian cricket already knew that that would not be the case as the veteran players, resting and picking games to play, were going to come back into the reckoning. Thus, there was no way the selectors or the team management would do anything dramatic to rock the boat.
Hence, once again, the selectors have stuck to a one-dimensional squad with batters (bar one) not being able to bowl and bowlers (bar one) not being able to bat!
The announcement of the T20 World Cup squad is once again an affirmation that in Indian cricket more things change more rather than remaining the same. The T20 World Cup in 2021 ended in disaster.
It was clear that India needed to change the way they played the format. It meant that specific players needed to be added to the set-up.
India’s selectors and team management shortlisted two such names, Dinesh Karthik and Harshal Patel. Both of them are specialist T20 players who have been picked for the World Cup this time with a specific goal of playing in this format.
Then there is the presence of a fit-again Hardik Pandya who provides an all-rounder option for the side. He is fit, bowls fast, and strikes at will, at least from the evidence that was on display during the first game of the Asia Cup 2022 against Pakistan.
The only other name that springs to mind and has really made a mark in the past 11 months in the format outside the big league is Deepak Hooda. The young man, who went through a lot over two years ago, has made his mark in a big way.
Hooda’s off-spin and batting has proved to be the clincher ahead of Shreyas Iyer. Hooda’s off-spin, though, does not inspire confidence from captain Rohit Sharma.
Axar Patel is a ready replacement for Ravindra Jadeja, who is out injured. The BCCI has not thought fit to inform the public at large about what is the condition of Jadeja, where did he undergo surgery, and how long he will be out of action (for everything else there is Jaddu’s social media, of course).
When news emerged that Jadeja would be out of the World Cup, head coach Rahul Dravid was quick to deny it. But now, the cat is out of the bag. A simple line about Jadeja would have helped matters but then again, it is too much to expect.
Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel are also back from injuries. We have to assume or depend on unnamed sources to confirm to us that they are fit, because there is no official line forthcoming on this aspect as well.
These two young men are key to India’s chances at the T20 World Cup. Everyone deserves some kind of information on their fitness as well.
The rest of the line-up is a predictable one. The selectors and the team management were not going to make massive pronouncements by making large-scale changes despite the Asia Cup disaster. The batting department picks itself purely on reputation, not necessarily on the expertise in the format.
A big debate about Rishabh Pant and Karthik has carried on for a while but then again, this close to the World Cup, only a brave man would have punted on a change.
The biggest news, though, is the fact that the selectors plumped for an experienced Ravichandran Ashwin over the young Ravi Bishnoi. It is this very selection panel which brought back Ashwin for last year’s T20 World Cup.
This time Ashwin's experience, plus probably his batting skills has pushed the selectors to pick him. The captain, Rohit Sharma, too believes in Ashwin’s abilities.
It is a bit tough on young Bishnoi whose bouncy and quick leg-spin would have been a handful on the Australian pitches. It would have been interesting to see him bowl on those tracks. But that is not to be. Even in the Asia Cup, Bishnoi did quite well against Pakistan in the Super 4 clash.
In the end, you can only carry 15 to the World Cup in an official squad. So, it is unfortunate for Bishnoi.
What a turnaround for Yuzvendra Chahal though as last year he was dropped for the T20 World Cup because he was a ‘slow’ leg-spinner, and Rahul Chahar’s pace made all the difference. This time, the selectors turned the logic around and went for the slow Chahal over the fast Bishnoi.
Mohammed Shami, though, continues to be a perplexing choice among the reserves for the T20 World Cup. This veteran seamer was a huge hit for Gujarat Titans during the IPL this year. He struck early in the powerplay and bowled with a lot of fire.
But by the looks of it, the team management was looking beyond him in the format. Now, however, Shami is back in the reckoning after having not played any T20 cricket for the past 11 months. He will also play the Australia and South Africa series.
So, is this an admission that the experiments with the younger bowlers were a complete failure? We will never know because the selectors and the BCCI will not tell us.
Shami’s exclusion in the first place and then his return will be added to the mysteries of Indian cricket, which can become a voluminous book available for purchase nowhere!
Finally, what a contrast from last year’s selection committee meeting to choose the T20 World Cup squad. There was a press conference with a massive, big bang announcement about the appointment of MS Dhoni as the mentor for the side. That set off a chain of events that rocked Indian cricket for the next five months.
The after effects of the series of press conferences towards the end of 2021 is still being felt. Hence, the Board mandarins decided better to keep mum and let the on-field actions speak for itself.
True actions do speak louder than words, but this time if the trophy does not come home, no one will keep mum.
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