3 Indian players from INDvBAN T20I series who might be axed for West Indies T20I series

Though the Men in Blue won the series, there are a lot of issues to ponder upon.

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Indian team. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Indian team
Indian team. (Photo Source: Twitter)

The score-line of the T20I series versus Bangladesh would show 2-1 in favour of India. However, the hosts, led by Rohit Sharma, can’t deny that Mahmudullah’s men got a stranglehold on them on quite a few occasions. In the third T20I at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur, the Men in Blue could easily have lost the series if Deepak Chahar and Shivam Dube didn’t produce the wickets at crucial junctures.

There were moments where the Tigers had the upper hand. Nonetheless, it’s still a series win for Team India and there were a number of positives to eke out. Amidst the triumph, concerns remain with a few of their players.

India’s next series is versus the West Indies at home, starting December 6 and the axe might come down on some of the players, who didn’t quite live up to expectations in the Bangladesh series.

In the article, let’s take a look at 3 Indians from the Bangladesh games who might not feature in the West Indies T20I series

Khaleel Ahmed

Khaleel Ahmed
Khaleel Ahmed. (Photo Source: Twitter)

In the pace bowling department, even as Deepak Chahar came out firing on all cylinders, his fast bowling partner Khaleel Ahmed had a tough time. The latter picked up only a couple of wickets in the series, but the concerning factor was his propensity to leak runs at an alarming rate.

The 21-year-old from Tonk, Rajasthan, ended with an economy rate of 9 at a bowling average of 54. Be it the powerplay or the death overs, the Tigers’ batsmen pounced on his loose deliveries with sheer disdain.

In the opening T20I, Mushfiqur Rahim hit him for four boundaries on the trot and in Rajkot, Khaleel started with three consecutive fours. The young Turk was all over the place and paid the price. Economy has always been an issue for Khaleel as it is 8.82 in T20Is since his debut in 2018.

Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Rishabh Pant has bundle of talent, a reason behind the Indian team management backing him as a future prospect. But while Pant has destroyed bowling attacks in the IPL, his numbers for India are disappointing, to say the least. Leave alone his average of 19.88, even his T20I strike-rate of 118.15 is lower than his overall T20 strike-rate of 158.52.

It’s been almost 3 years since his national debut. In the recent series, he started with a laboured 27 at a tad over a run-a-ball in Delhi. The southpaw didn’t get to bat in Rajkot, but was slammed for his poor keeping.

In Nagpur, he failed to capitalise on the platform set by the top order batters. Pant was castled by Soumya Sarkar after he went for a cross-batted heave. It won’t be a surprise if Sanju Samson gets a chance in the upcoming series.

Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Shikhar Dhawan has truckload of experience and is a reliable figure in the Indian top order. However, his figures in 2019 aren’t all that promising. In 12 T20Is, Dhawan has 272 runs at a strike-rate of 110.56. It has invariably put pressure on Rohit Sharma to play the big shots and take care of the scoring rate.

In fact, out of the 12 matches, Dhawan had a strike-rate of below 100 five times. In the last series, Dhawan notched 91 runs with a top score of 41 in Delhi, but at a strike-rate of 107.05. The instances when Rohit has had the odd failure, India have hardly been able to make proper use of the powerplay.

Hence for an odd series, India can use someone like KL Rahul, who has a strike-rate of 145.37 with a decent average of 42.34, as an opener. The Karnataka batsman also scored a quick-fire 35-ball 52 in Nagpur.

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