4 cricketers who can make it to Team India now that World T20 is over
After India's World Cup campaign ended on a sour note with a humiliating 10-wicket loss to England in the semis, questions are being raised on the current squad of India. The team management will surely look to include new names in the squad and might rest some big names.
Already the squad for next ODI and T20I series in New Zealand doesn't include Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, Ravichandran Ashwin and Dinesh Kathik. Hardik Pandya will lead the team in T20 matches, while Shikhar Dhawan will captain the team in the ODIs.
The new team will feature Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Sanju Samson, Kuldeep Yadav, Umran Malik, Ishan Kishan and Washington Sundar.
But there are few names which missed the selection and have strong chances of making it to the Indian squad:
Here are these four players:
1. Venkatesh Iyer: The 27-year-old allrounder can be the next selection in the Indian squad provided his skills with the ball as well as with the bat. Especially in the absence of Ravindra Jadeja, who is recuperating from a knee injury, Iyer can be a good allrounder for the team along with Hardik Pandya. Iyer has so far played 9 T20Is for India and he has a decent batting strike rate of 162.19 and an average of 33.25.
2. Prithvi Shaw: The right-handed batter was not named in the India's squad for New Zealand and Bangladesh series by the BCCI. This did raise some eyebrows because Shaw is considered a good opening batter. He is a good hitter of the ball and had a decent IPL season where he averaged 28.30 in 10 matches he played. With Ishan Kishan, Shaw can be included in the squad as a opening batter as KL Rahul's form has dipped in the recent past. The selectors had previously also said that they are in touch with Shaw and he will get his chance soon.
3. T Natarajan: Tamil Nadu's left-arm medium-fast bowler also missed the cut in the Indian squad last time. However, the mananagement might want to bring him back as the team's pace attack proved ineffective in big matches in T20 World Cup. Jasprit Bumrah is injured, Mohammed Shami might no longer be considered for T20 cricket, so Natarajan can fill in the gap with new pacers Umran Malik, and Arshdeep Singh. Natarajan has played only 4 T20Is and has taken seven wickets at an average of 17.42.
4. Ravi Bishnoi: The leg-break bowler though didn't get a place in India's playing XI in Australia, he was with the team as a stand-by player. Bishnoi, however, is a good spin bowling option alongside Kuldeep Yadav. The reason why he missed the BCCI's selection for the Indian squad against New Zealand and Bangladesh was because the team already had Yuzvendra Chahal. But, Bishnoi's presence in the team can strengthen the bowling unit as he has good figures to his name in T20 cricket. He has played 10 T20 matches for India, in which he has taken 16 wickets at an average of 17.12.
Apart from these four players, in the bowling department, Avesh Khan, Aman Khan, Mayank Agarwal are some of the names who can be considered by the BCCI selectors.