5 Major missings from India’s T20I squad for South Africa series
The selectors are looking forward to the T20 World Cup next year in Australia.
The Indian team has quickly brushed aside the heartbreak of the loss in the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup. They whitewashed Windies in the Caribbean in both the T20I and ODI series. They are currently leading the Test series (1-0) as well.
After the tour, the Virat Kohli-led side returns to India and will have a pretty hectic home season. South Africa is the first team that will tour the country. They will play three T20Is and three Tests with the longest format being a part of the World Test Championship. The tour is scheduled to start with the shortest format. Dharamsala, Mohali and Bengaluru are the three venues for the three-match T20I series.
The selectors met in Mumbai to pick the team for the contest and announced the squad on Thursday. Hardik Pandya made a comeback to the 15-man squad after he was rested for the West Indies tour. India look to build towards next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia. However, there are a few big names that missed out. Thus, here are five major players who are missing from India’s T20I squad for the South Africa series.
Five major missings from T20I squads for SA series:
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Bhuvneshwar Kumar blew hot and cold a touch in the Caribbean. He picked up seven wickets in six limited-overs games against the Windies. The Meerut pacer looked good for a large part but was also expensive at times. He was good during the World Cup but an injury pegged him back.
He has been replaced by Hardik Pandya in the squad. Bhuvneshwar’s absence means that India will be without a pace spearhead in the upcoming series against South Africa. Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini and Deepak Chahar are the fast bowling options at India’s disposal. The trio has collectively played 16 T20 Internationals with Khaleel being the most experienced having 11 games under his belt.
Thus, this means that Bhuvneshwar might not don the Indian colours until November. After this T20I series, India play Tests against South Africa and the 29-year-old fast bowler has been out of favour in the longest format. Thus, he will have to wait until the T20I series against Bangladesh to make a return.
Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzvendra Chahal has been one of the big reasons for India’s success in white-ball cricket over the last couple of years. Be it ODIs or T20Is, Chahal has been a prominent figure in the Indian team. He is the third-highest wicket-taker (46 wickets) for India in T20I cricket.
However, for the second T20I series in a row, the 29-year-old leg-spinner has been overlooked. India have opted to go in with Rahul Chahar, Washington Sundar and Krunal Pandya as their frontline spin options. However, Chahal’s exclusion is a little surprising given that he is in good form.
The Haryana leggie picked up 12 wickets in the World Cup but fizzled out towards the end of the tournament. But he did well in the only game he played in the Caribbean. Moreover, he picked up 5/47 for India ‘A’ against South Africa ‘A’ in the first unofficial ODI.
Kuldeep Yadav
Yuzvendra Chahal’s partner in crime, Kuldeep Yadav has also been ignored for the second straight T20I series. However, Kuldeep’s form has been very iffy this year. He has played just one T20I this year. In ODI cricket, he’s blown hot and cold like never before. Teams seem to have figured his variations out.
Moreover, Kuldeep had a horrid IPL. In fact, he was even dropped from the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) playing XI towards the end of the tournament. He was slowly finding his rhythm in the Caribbean but didn’t really look at his best. Thus, the chinaman’s exclusion isn’t a big surprise.
Moreover, with India opting to play Krunal Pandya, it was always going to be a toss-up between the two wrist-spinners. However, the selectors decided to drop both Kuldeep and Chahal and Rahul Chahar has been thrown into the mix.
Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah is at the top of his game at the moment. He has been India’s go-to man for a while now. The Gujarat fast bowler has also become India’s pace spearhead in a very short time across all formats. Bumrah was brilliant in the World Cup as he took 18 wickets at an average of 20.61.
He was rested for the limited-overs leg for the tour to the West Indies. However, Bumrah has returned to his best in the longest format. He took some time to hit his straps as he picked up just one wicket in the first innings of the first Test. And then returned with the fabulous figures of 5/7 in the second innings which blew away the Windies top-order.
Bumrah has once again been rested for the white-ball leg of the South Africa series. In fact, he has played just two T20Is this year and that came against Australia in February. Hence, Bumrah’s absence will continue to provide youngsters a chance to step up and prove their worth.
MS Dhoni
There are multiple speculations going around MS Dhoni and his future. The former Indian skipper has been on a sabbatical since the end of the World Cup. He was not considered for the T20I and ODI series against West Indies as he served in the Indian army. He continues to be missing from the Indian T20I squad.
Thus, the speculation around his retirement continues to grow. Also, Dhoni’s future continues to be uncertain as India are looking to build towards the T20 World Cup next year. It’s uncertain whether he wants to play the mega event which is scheduled to take place in Australia.
Dhoni’s form blew hot and cold in the World Cup. He started off with a bang but his slow approach in the middle overs was criticised heavily. He scored a fighting half-century in the semi-final as he took India close along with Ravindra Jadeja. But Dhoni hasn’t been around the team since that semi-final loss.
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