After beating New Zealand in the One Day International series 2-1, Virat Kohli’s Team India is ready for the T20I clash. The 1st T20I will be played at Feroz Shah Kotla stadium, Delhi on November 1 and is expected to be a high-scoring affair going by the dimensions of the field. The Indian team has had a couple of changes made in their T20I squad.Virat Kohli is a captain who, like Ricky Ponting, believes that a player should either perform or perish which makes the selection for spots even more competitive. Mohammed Siraj and Shreyas Iyer have been included in the Indian squad but are yet to make their debut.
We think a few Indian cricketers in the squad should not be selected to play for India in T20Is against New Zealand. Take a look:
Dinesh Karthik
The old warhorse featured in India’s debut T20I match against South Africa but since has not been included in the Indian team. The 32-year-old, who is in the twilight of his career, is not expected to play for long. With Virat Kohli’s policy of investing in youngsters, we feel that Karthik may not make a cut into this Indian squad. Players like Manish Pandey or KL Rahul are better options.
Umesh Yadav
Yadav, who has just played one T20I for India, certainly does not fit into Virat Kohli’s scheme of things. With Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in an impeccable form and Hardik Pandya settling in the third seamers spot, it is highly unlikely he should ever feature in a T20I playing XI. Another factor that works against him is that he has raw pace and is an out and out wicket-taking bowler having a high economy.
Mohammed Shami
The Bengal pacer Shami’s case is identical to Umesh Yadav’s, both of them being best suited to play in the longer version with the kind of pace they have. Shami last played a T20 for India in July this year and from then on, he hasn’t been able to find his way back to the playing eleven, though he continues to be a part of the Test set up. An economy rate of 10.56 in 7 T20Is is hardly the sort of numbers that can boost the team management’s confidence.
Kedar Jadhav
Apart from scoring a half-century versus Zimbabwe last year in T20Is, Jadhav has not been remarkable on the field in the shortest format of the game. He has cemented his place in the One Day International squad but in the T20Is, he has not lived up to his potential and hence we feel he does not deserve to be in the Indian team.
Ajinkya Rahane
This is a player who has accumulated a base of die-hard fans with many swearing by his solid technique. But it seems the brand of batting Rahane exhibits does not suit Virat Kohli’s scheme of things. He is a player who likes to take his time before he warms up to his bat. In this Virat Kohli team, you are expected to attack from the start.
Perfect finish to a thrilling game. Great work @Jaspritbumrah93 @BhuviOfficial & @yuzi_chahal. Keep it up boys. My Best wishes for the T20Is pic.twitter.com/C74JbGGpb6
— sachin tendulkar (@sachin_rt) October 29, 2017
Here is how Sachin Tendulkar congratulated team India on winning the recently concluded ODI series.
The match is also touted to be Ashish Nehra’s last international match playing for the Indian side.
