KL Rahul relieved of wicketkeeping, Rishabh Pant returns: Talking points from India's T20I squad
The national selectors delivered a few surprises when they announced the T20I squad for the England series. Here's a look at talking points from the squad -
Rishabh Pant hasn't played white-ball cricket since January 2020. Photo: BCCI
Key Highlights
- Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Rahul Tewatia were handed their maiden T20 call-ups by BCCI
- Suryakumar and Kishan play for Mumbai Indians while Tewatia represents Rajasthan Royals in IPL
- The five-match T20I series will be played in Ahmedabad, from March 12
The BCCI on Saturday announced a 19-member T20I squad for the five-match series against England, which kicks off on March 12. The Chetan Sharma-headed selection panel handed maiden call-up to 3 players while they also dropped 3 players - Sanju Samson, Mayank Agarwal and Kuldeep Yadav - from the roster which toured Australia.
Rohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rishabh Pant and Varun Chakravarthy were among those to make their returns. A day after the team selection, here we have a look at talking points from Team India's T20I squad -
Selectors take gloves off KL Rahul
In a rather surprising move, the selectors seem to have taken the gloves off KL Rahul as the BCCI's squad clearly mentions Ishan Kishan and Rishabh Pant for that role. The decision can be debated as the team management backed Rahul for the job for one complete year and also dropped Rishabh from the squad.
The sudden change has come as a big surprise and it will be interesting to see if the team management also does the same. Rahul is likely to keep the gloves in 50-over cricket.
Rishabh Pant makes another white-ball return
The young wicketkeeper-batsman has only been part of the national team for the past 4 years but Rishabh has made a number of returns in the white-ball team. On occasions, he has been dropped without being given enough chances. And for the Australia tour as well, he was dropped without being given a chance.
His red-ball form is too good to be ignored and the selectors had no other option but to recall him into the T20I squad. Rishabh has played 16 ODIs and 28 T20Is since his debut in 2017.
IPL performers awarded
The selectors have taken note of the IPL performers and rewarded Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Rahul Tewatia. Suryakumar, who has been part of India A side for a long time, scored 480 runs in IPL 2020 while Kishan finished the season with 516 runs, most by an uncapped batsman. Rajasthan Royals' Tewatia scored 255 runs and scalped 10 wickets last season.
Rishabh to compete against former captain
Rishabh has returned to the T20I side but where will the captain fit him? The 23-year-old will have to compete against his former U-19 captain, Kishan, for a spot in the playing XI. Before his Test debut, Rishabh was next to Kishan in the pecking order as the selectors used to name only one wicketkeeper for the 'A' series. He pipped Kishan to make his Test debut in 2018 and looks like he will be preferred over the Mumbai Indians' batsman in the T20 series as well. Rishabh was Kishan's deputy at the 2016 U-19 World Cup.
Fitness issues still prevail
One of the major talking points from the selection is the fitness issues. The likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Manish Pandey and Mohammed Shami missed out on selection due to fitness issues. Having fresh faces in the squad does reflect the depth in Indian cricket but the absence of regulars also means that India haven't been able to ink on a perfect squad for the T20 World Cup.
The Men in Blue are still undecided on their finishers and the second spinner, who will partner Yuzvendra Chahal. On the Australia tour, even lead spinner Chahal was kept out of playing XI once.
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