5 Indian T20I cricketers who went off the radar

Given that India is the world’s 2^nd most populated country, there will be a lot of competition in various fields and it is no different in terms of cricket. India is considered as one of the best cricket teams in the world because of a very large talent pool. However, not all those players will get a lot of chances to prove themselves.

With two ICC T20I World Cups scheduled to take place this year and even next year, all the teams are trying out various players and combinations. India has given an opportunity to several players and has been rotating the XI on a regular basis.

However, trying out new players on a regular basis also means that there are certain players who have to make way for them. There are quite a few players who have gone off the selection radar in recent times and here’s a look at-

5 players from India who went off the radar in T20I

1. Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik has got to be one of the unluckiest Indian cricketers of all time and has always been in and out of the team. Despite delivering good performances, he was dropped from the team in 2019 and hasn’t been recalled since then.

He was one of the best finishers in the IPL during the 2018 and 2019 campaigns and was even rewarded with a call-up to the Indian squad for the World Cup. He failed in the only two games he got a chance and hasn’t played a single game since then.

Even his most recent T20I performances weren’t poor by any means and he even scored 33* from just 16 balls in his 3^rd last innings. His poor form in the last IPL season hasn’t done any good to his chances as he is now behind Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, and Sanju Samson in the picking order for wicket keepers. However, he can still fire himself back into contention if he plays well in the upcoming season as he is still one of India’s best finishers.

2. Vijay Shankar

Both Vijay Shankar and Dinesh Karthik went out of the international stage at pretty much the same time. They played their last ODIs during the 2019 World Cup and their last T20Is against Australia on the 27^th of February in 2019.

His performances were pretty good, and it was a bit of a surprise he was completely removed from the equation. He batted on four occasions in nine T20Is and scored 101 runs at a decent average of 25.25 while scoring at 138.35. Even in his last innings, he scored 43 runs in 28 balls.

Even with the ball, he wasn’t quite bad for someone who isn’t even a full-time bowler. He picked up five wickets in six innings at a strike rate of 25.2 while conceding at 9.09. In his last game, he returned with figures of 2/38 in four overs, but that wasn’t enough to save his spot in the squad. However, given that he can bowl medium pace whilst being a very good batsman, a good season will push him back into the mix as India aren’t particularly stocked in that area.

3. Khaleel Ahmed

Khaleel Ahmed was considered one of India’s best young bowlers a couple of years ago and was given a lot of hype given that he was a left-arm pacer. India hasn’t had a top-class left-arm fast bowler since Zaheer Khan retired and finding a replacement was obviously a bit thing.

He also had the ability to bowl at speeds exceeding 140 kph and he even had a good start to his international career. However, loss of form, later on, meant that he wasn’t selected in the World Cup squad, but a good comeback in the IPL meant he retained his place in the T20I squad.

However, he failed to have much of an impact and this was evident by a poor strike rate of 24 and a rather high economy rate of 8.82. He was dropped after the T20Is against Bangladesh at home and hasn’t been considered since then. A poor IPL last season has made things even more difficult for the 23-year-old. He has a lot of fast bowlers ahead of him in the order and his SRH teammate, T Natarajan has emerged as the country’s best left-arm pacer.

4. Shivam Dube

Shivam Dube was given a chance in the Indian team as the pace bowling all-rounder when Hardik Pandya was injured, but he failed to make the most of it and was dropped from the team after a brief stint with the team.

He played 13 T20Is between November three 2019, and February two 2020. He batted on 9 occasions and scored 105 runs at a strike rate of 136.36 whilst also scoring a half-century.

Dube even picked up 5 wickets in 11 bowling innings at a strike rate of 25.8 while conceding at over 10. His stats weren’t overly impressive, and a poor IPL has pushed him down the pecking order. However, like Vijay Shankar. he has a chance of coming back into the team with a good IPL as there aren’t many Indian players like him.

5. Krunal Pandya

Krunal Pandya recently made his comeback for the Indian team, but it was in the ODI team where he was handed a debut and not in the shortest format of the game. He was dropped from the T20I set up in 2019 and played his last game against Bangladesh.

The 30-year-old played 18 matches and scored 121 runs at an average of 24.2 while striking at 131.52. With the ball, he picked up 14 wickets at an economy rate of 8.11, but his strike rate of 28.4 wasn’t quite good.

Krunal is more of a batsman than a bowler and thus, it will be difficult for him to come back into the T20I team with batsmen like Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, and Rishabh Pant playing extremely well. His value as a spin-bowling all-rounder who bats at No.7 isn’t particularly great and with players like Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, and Rahul Tewatia ahead of him, it will be an uphill task.