No surprises expected but T20WC could be SKY’s last as India skipper
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav and his deputy Shubman Gill’s indifferent form is a massive concern but the national selection committee is unlikely to make any shocking changes when it picks the 15-member squad for next year’s T20 World Cup on Saturday.
The BCCI would be at liberty to replace any of the named 15 till the start of the T20 World Cup on February 7. For the record, during the Champions Trophy earlier this year, Varun Chakravarthy replaced Yashasvi Jaiswal after slow tracks in Dubai were taken into consideration. While nobody in BCCI is spelling it out, the global event in India could well be the last for Suryakumar as national T20 skipper. He is already 35 and has been out of form for the past one year.
Having endured a barren run for almost 14 months and across 24 games, Suryakumar is holding on to his place only because he is the captain. The committee will also pick the T20 squad for New Zealand which will be the same as the one chosen for the T20 World Cup. For the time being, there aren’t any slots up for grabs although Gill’s position has repeatedly come under scanner while an in-form Yashasvi Jaiswal waits in the wings.
It remains to be seen if the selectors name Jaiswal as an extra player for the New Zealand series just to observe him in case he is needed during the mega-event to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. The reserve opener’s slot currently belongs to Sanju Samson, who was wrongfully displaced from his position when the selection committee and an important member of the team think-tank decided to fix something that wasn’t broken.
Had the T20 World Cup been six months away, there was every possibility of the selection committee looking at alternative options for leadership. However, what has worked for Suryakumar is an early T20 World Cup and form deserting his deputy Gill, who was being seen as the all-format captain after taking over the reins of the Test and ODI sides. But with only five games left before the opening World Cup match against the United States of America in Mumbai on February 7, no selection panel would want to break the continuity.
While there is a good chance that the 15 selected against South Africa for the home assignment will also play against New Zealand and subsequently the T20 World Cup, Jaiswal’s name is almost certain to come up as he has shown himself to be a more versatile T20 player compared to both Gill and Samson.
But with Samson being the second keeper now (Jitesh Sharma is the first choice stumper and finisher) and Gill being promoted as vice-captain, it is difficult for Jaiswal to break into the 15 as he doesn’t fit any other role specific slot.
The only other weak link in the 15 is Washington Sundar, who hasn’t yet shown any pyrotechnics in 57 T20Is. But in this format, he is more of bowling all-rounder. On paper, the side looks unbeatable with 14 proven IPL superstars (save Washington) but what is likely to stick out like a sore thumb is that two out of top three batters are horribly out of form.
India likely 15:
Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (wk), Washington Sundar
Likely Stand Bys (5/6): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Shahbaz Ahmed/Nitish Kumar Reddy, Prasidh Krishna.
