In Stats: India’s Latest Finds - Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya

A look at India’s success rate in the first Quarter - and the players who have made the most impact.

Though India, tagged favourites heading into the ICC World T20 2016, were eliminated in the semi-final, the first quarter of 2016 has been a very successful period for MS Dhoni and co. They won a series in Australia, beat Sri Lanka in a bilateral series at home and even clinched the inaugural Asia Cup T20 competition.

Result: India have won an unprecedented 13 matches – thanks to the scheduling - in the first three months of the year.

While most of the credit for India’s success in the shortest format so far this year must go to the players for their domination on the field, one should not forget to applaud some of the selection calls made by the Indian National Selection Committee. While several players pick themselves into the team, the job of the selection committee is to complete the squad. And that is where Sandeep Patil and team must be applauded for a job well done.

Largely considered a young man’s game, the selectors must have debated extensively before picking Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh. Nehra was India’s best bowler in the competition and even found a place in the ICC’s Team of the Tournament, while Yuvraj – even if he was far from his fluent best - made useful contributions to the team’s cause.

Credit must also be given to the selectors for bringing into the mix two youngsters – Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah. Both youngsters have been spoken about highly in domestic cricket circles, and while both players were in form, it must have been a difficult decision to hand them India caps – with an ICC world event just round the corner.

Bumrah has been impressive in his short stint with the Indian team so far. He has hardly had bad days with the ball and has picked up some key scalps in the opposition – Steve Smith, David Warner, Chris Gayle, Glenn Maxwell, to name a few. The 22-year old had earned a reputation in the Indian Premier League and in domestic cricket as someone who could dish out yorkers at will; he certainly did that in the WT20 where he was among the bowlers who dished out the most yorkers.

Bumrah’s ability to bowl well at the death is also a refreshing change. Where Indian bowlers would normally get plenty of stick, Bumrah, with his unusual action and his ability to bowl the yorkers, has been very difficult to get away in the death overs.

Hardik Pandya is a cricketer with immense ability and can contribute on all three fronts. He is a destructive batsman, a handy bowler and an outstanding fielder. His body language is that of a go-getter, and that by itself can have a positive effect on the rest of the team.

In the 16 matches he has played for India thus far, Pandya has bowled in every single match and has picked up a total of 15 wickets – very good returns from someone operates as a change bowler. With the bat, he has only had the opportunity to bat for 56 deliveries and the Indian team management will do well to give him a better role with the bat and possibly a higher position in the batting order in the times to come, for he is capable of demolishing the opposition with the willow.