5 Players who may miss out in India’s T20 World Cup 2021 squad

It was quite disheartening to see the visitors (ENGLAND) get into a tailspin especially by the time when the Test series had reached Ahmedabad. After the highs of the first Test, the series was anticipated be a head to head contest. But because of India’s astonishing vigour and spirit getting manifested during the crunch moments, the Test series hence, did became a one-sided affair.

However, now with the plethora of limited-overs cricket happening between the two giants, the ultimate agenda of both teams will be to create a blueprint of their squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Also, both these heavyweights do carry a handsome amount of winning streaks in T20I series and will be interesting to watch who becomes the latest hero. Moreover, for the Indian team, they do now have added the exuberance of their local IPL stars and will be enthralling to watch them getting fit into the team’s playing XI.

All in all, both these teams do look well stacked and especially for India, the squad looks like it has been selected in a way to sort their middle-order batting crises. Hence with the Indian team this time looking very well equipped, let’s take a look at-

5 Players from India who may miss T20 World Cup 2021 squad

1. Manish Pandey

Although Manish Pandey has been routinely part of the Indian team ever since he played that match-winning hundred against Australia at Sydney in 2016, in reality, his presence in the side has only been felt after the 2019 World Cup. Not long ago in India’s T20 tour of New Zealand in 2020, the right-hander was infused into the playing XI for some added reliability and had played some canny cameos. But with the arrival of the new selection committee, his place in the T20 squad does look extinct.

Regardless of his vibrant proposition of batting anywhere in the top seven, Pandey mainly served the team as a sturdy lower-middle order batsman. But with the return of Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya, the lower middle-order will now be mainly occupied by these two stalwarts. Also in the reserves, there’s someone like Rahul Tewatia who because of jaunty hitting skills along with some spin bowling talent will be getting tried and tested. Overall, the team has looked a little bleak when it comes to performances from the lower-middle order in the past. One might expect the current T20I series to be the games where the lower middle-order will now be collectively looking to flaunt their firepower.

Now regardless of his robust performances in the T20Is wherein he averages close to 44 from his 39 games, it’s actually his strike rate (126) that might be the abstaining reason regarding his omission. In a broader sense, often Pandey’s batting has looked to be well suited in the top four and that’s the reason why he’s mainly seen batting at similar positions for the SRH. But with the infusion of new youngsters (Ishan Kishan & Suryakumar Yadav) even the no.4 position looks like a prolonged wait for him. All in all, one can anticipate that Pandey despite being a reliable commodity in the lower middle-order might face an omission in the upcoming World T20.