The World Cup fever has settled down but if you are an Indian fan, chances are that you felt the team underachieved in the World Cup. Being one of the best ODI teams in the four years between the two World Cups, Virat Kohli and co were among favourites to challenge for the title in the finals, if not win the trophy.
But a few underlying fallacies in the line-up popped up during the campaign. Several factors including age and form of certain players mean that India need fresh personnel to boost their ODI team.
With the Caribbean tour due soon, India will have a chance to overhaul their team and bring in some exciting new energy to the team. So, who are next in line and further down in the pecking order to come into the Indian limited-overs team?
The Top of The Pile
When Shikhar Dhawan was out of the World Cup, India sought to replace him with Mayank Agarwal, some one they had tested only in Tests before. The exciting Karnataka opener had impressed one and all with his composure at the top of the order, and was expected to bring in some much-needed stability to the top. While he did not get a game in the World Cup, Mayank is surely in the selectors’ radar for the Caribbean tour and further.
A few other discards including Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, who has continuously excelled for India A, and Khaleel Ahmed are expected to slot into the ODI team. Krunal Pandya, who has been tried in the shortest format of the game, is now in excellent form in List A cricket for India A and is their top wicket-taker in the last one year.
The all-rounder could get a look in particularly with Kedar Jadhav struggling to make an impact of late.
Prithvi Shaw is another exciting talent waiting in the wings. While injury cut short his Test stint too soon, Shaw could be in line to make all three squads for the tour of West Indies.
These are the obvious players in line to make their return or debuts in limited-overs cricket but the more exciting talent are the younger, inexperienced lot who have made compelling cases in under-19 cricket and India A cricket in the last few years.
With the team having enough time to build a team for the next World Cup, some, if not all, of these young guns could get a look in.
Navdeep Saini
List A record- Matches – 39, Wickets – 63, Average – 26.92, Economy – 5.04
Navdeep Saini was among the most exciting Indian pacers in IPL 2019. The seamer, who played for Royal Challengers Bangalore, made an instant impact with his searing pace, disconcerting bounce and ability to stand tall under pressure.
Even with the Virat Kohli-led side having a horrendous IPL, Saini was a standout player and even an outside bet to make the World Cup squad. Saini has 17 First-Class wickets in his last 12 outings for India A while his List A record is even more eye-catching. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018/19, Saini picked up 16 wickets in 8 matches for Delhi, averaging a miserly 19.18.
With India aiming to find an ideal partner for Jasprit Bumrah - considering that Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar could be in their early 30s by the next World Cup - Saini could be a potent new ball bowler they would want to try.
Ruturaj Gaikwad
List A record -Matches – 37, Runs – 1936, Average – 56.94, Strike Rate - 100.93, 100s – 5
While a lot of highlight has been on Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw and Ishan Kishan, the young Ruturaj Gaikwad has made rapid strides in limited-overs cricket for India A.
The exciting opening batsman has 1936 List A runs at an average of 56.94 and a stunning strike rate above 100. At 22, he is earmarked as one for the future at Chennai Super Kings and has stood out with his List A form for India A of late. His last few innings for India A read – 187*, 125*, 84, 74, 3 and 85.
He shone in the Vijay Hazare Trophy as well. Representing Maharashtra, Gaikwad made 365 runs in 8 matches at an average of 45.62 including a hundred. With Dhawan and Rohit already in their prime, Gaikwad would surely be someone India will want to groom for the opening role.
Shubman Gill
List A record -Matches – 46, Runs – 1873, Average – 46.82, Strike Rate - 85.95, 100s – 5
He is as exciting as it gets for a new talent, so much so that India couldn’t resist a temptation to try him in the ODI team before the World Cup. While the experiment wasn’t very successful, Gill had to contend with top quality fast bowling in difficult conditions first up in New Zealand.
He made amends in the IPL with his stellar performances at the top for Kolkata Knight Riders. From batting in the lower middle-order to opening consistently for KKR, Gill gave a sound impression of his abilities.
In the Vijay Hazare Trophy prior to that, Gill had 418 runs in seven matches at an average of 59.71 including a hundred and three half-centuries.
In the ongoing India A – West Indies A series, Gill is at the top of the run charts with 149 runs in three innings including two scores in excess of 50. He is a sure shot experimentation in the ODI middle order in the next one year.
Rahul Chahar & Deepak Chahar
Rahul Chahar List A record -Matches – 24, Wickets – 42, Average – 24.52, Economy - 4.89
Deepak Chahar List A record-Matches – 34, Wickets – 48, Average – 24.91, Economy – 5.12
Cousins, Deepak Chahar and Rahul Chahar, have been making quite a ruckus in domestic cricket for a while now and after stellar IPL seasons for their respective franchises, both are in line to make the Indian limited-overs side.
Rahul, a wily leg-spinner, has stood out with his performances for Mumbai Indians and India A. He was the third highest wicket-taker in the Vijay Hazare Trophy with 20 wickets in 9 matches for Rajasthan at an average of 17.55.
With Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal showing prominent signs of decline, Chahar could be a wrist spinner in the selectors’ radar. Deepak Chahar, on the other hand, is a versatile new ball bowler in the mould of Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
The swing bowler played an ODI against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup but has since not been called up. Given his recent IPL performances, Deepak Chahar could be partnering Bumrah with the new ball soon.
Shreyas Gopal
List A record -Matches – 32, Wickets – 51, Average – 20.66, Economy - 4.96
While he made quite an impactful performance for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, that might not be his ticket to the Indian ODI side. The leg-spinning all-rounder will compete with the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Krunal Pandya for a place in the ODI side and his recent show for India A might well earn him a place in the limited-overs team.
Gopal topped the wickets chart for India B in the quadrangular series involving India B, South Africa A and Australia A last year and also shone in the series against Sri Lanka A in June.
Gopal’s resilience from down the order with the bat could also help him edge out other competitors for a place in the team. With 51 wickets in 32 List A games at an average of 20.6, Gopal also has the numbers to back his case.
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