3 Indian players from NZvIND T20I squad who might not be selected for T20 World Cup

India’s preparations have been in full flow with them playing a T20I series with almost every team.

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Shardul Thakur
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Shardul Thakur. (Photo Source: Twitter)

It’s the year of the T20 World Cup and all the focus has shifted to the mega event which is scheduled to be hosted in Australia in October later this year. Each team has been playing quite a lot of T20 cricket than more as well. India’s preparations have been in full flow with them playing a T20I series with almost every team.

In the 2019-20 home season, they played a three-match T20I series against every side that toured barring Australia. They are currently in New Zealand and are in the middle of their first-ever five-match T20I series. Virat Kohli and the team management have quite a few options at their disposal. In fact, most departments have enough backup players as well.

In New Zealand, India have 16 players for the T20I series. However, there are a few who might miss out with key players out injured for this series. Hence, here we look at three players from the current Indian squad which is in New Zealand who might not be selected for the T20 World Cup later this year.

1. Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson
Sanju Samson. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Over the last few months, there’s been a pattern to Sanju Samson’s life. He is constantly being called in as an injury replacement in the Indian T20I side. However, he has been confined to the bench in every game except for one.

Samson was included in the XI for the third T20I against Sri Lanka and donned the gloves too. He replaced Rishabh Pant as India threw in an opportunity to their bench. The Kerala player scored a six off his first ball but was out next ball. He played a T20I after missing 73 games after his debut which is the most for an Indian player.

He played a couple of games for India ‘A’ after that as well before he replaced Shikhar Dhawan in the T20I squad in New Zealand. With KL Rahul now donning the gloves, Pant waiting in the wing and Ravi Shastri not ruling out MS Dhoni’s return, Samson’s inclusion for the T20 World Cup looks pretty bleak.

2. Shivam Dube

Shivam Dube
Shivam Dube. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Hardik Pandya’s absence has hampered India a lot in the last one and a half year. The Baroda seam-bowling all-rounder has constantly been out due to injury and other off-field issues. India have tried quite a few all-rounders during various stages of his absence. However, Shivam Dube is one who they’ve given a long rope in the shortest format.

The Mumbai all-rounder has the ability to strike big and can hit the ball a long way. He has showcased it on a couple of occasions but hasn’t got a lot of chances with the bat. He’s batted in five games and has scored a fifty while batting at 3 and has remained not out in a couple of them. He’s blown hot and cold with the ball and has one significant performance with the ball when he picked 3/30 against Bangladesh.

However, his spot may not be confirmed for the trip to Australia for the T20 World Cup. Hardik Pandya is all set to return to action in the near future and with India likely to pick at least one of Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, Dube might not be close in the pecking order.

3. Shardul Thakur

Shardul Thakur
Shardul Thakur. (Photo Source: Twitter)

India’s depth in fast bowling has never been as rich as it is at the moment. Despite missing a couple of premier fast bowlers in Jasprit Bumrah (for a major part of the home season), Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar, there have been enough backup resources. Shardul Thakur has been one of the few backups.

There were a couple of games when Thakur had an impact with the bat but with the ball, he has been pretty inconsistent. There are times when he’s picked up a few wickets here and there but he’s been pretty expensive too. He has a career ODI economy of 6.49 and a career T20I economy of 8.74.

Hence, with India having a lot of fast bowlers in their ranks. Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini might be above in the pecking order and thus, Thakur might have to miss out.

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