India vs West Indies: 3 unexpected inclusions by Indian selectors for T20I and ODI series

After thrashing South Africa and Bangladesh at home, Team India will shift its focus to the most successful T20I team of the world, West Indies. After the series against Afghanistan in Lucknow, West Indies will battle the Men in Blue.

While there is a lot of time left for the limited-overs series, the home side had announced its squads yesterday evening. Virat Kohli made his return to the T20I team after missing the Bangladesh series whereas Bhuvneshwar Kumar too has come back into the scheme of things after his brief injury break.

The squads contain some expected names but; the selectors made some surprising decisions that took the cricket world aback. Here are the three unexpected inclusions by Indian selectors for India vs West Indies series.

1. KL Rahul

The right-handed batsman from Karnataka, KL Rahul had played a fine knock against Bangladesh in the third T20I. His innings had helped India win the match hence, it made sense to keep him in the T20I squad. But, the Indian selectors have raised a few eyebrows by including him in the ODI squad.

Though the 27-year-old had batted brilliantly in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he has never proved himself as a match-winner in ODI cricket. Rahul has played 23 ODI matches for India, aggregating 704 runs at an average of 39.11. The most disappointing statistic of the Kings XI Punjab star’s ODI career is his strike rate.

Despite being billed as one of the most technically sound batsmen, he has a strike rate of 79.10. He has taken part in 4 ODIs at home where he has amassed mere 50 runs at an average of 12.50. Thus, the fans have questioned his inclusion in the ODI squad.

2. Shivam Dube

The 26-year-old all-rounder from Mumbai, Shivam Dube has replaced the injured Hardik Pandya in the team. The selectors had tried Vijay Shankar in Hardik’s place however, the Tamil Nadu-based all-rounder could not produce the desired results. Dube had made his T20I debut against Bangladesh a few weeks ago.

He had struggled in the first T20I where he could score only a solitary run. Shivam could not do much in the Rajkot T20I as well but, the Royal Challengers Bangalore star took three wickets in the final game to announce his arrival in international cricket.

There is no doubt about his talent but, the fact that he has scored only 15 runs in his last 8 competitive matches shows that he is out of form with the bat. His highest score has been 9 in these matches thus, it would have been a better decision to give him more time to find his touch before naming him in the ODI squad.

3. Kedar Jadhav

When the cricket universe thought Kedar Jadhav’s international career was all but over, the selectors shocked the fans by including him in the ODI squad. It seems like the top officials wished to give him one last chance to prove himself but, one should note that Jadhav is 34 years old and the probability that he plays well until the 2023 World Cup is very low.

There are no ICC ODI events till 2023 hence, it would have made sense to try out an in-form all-rounder from the domestic circuit in the place of Jadhav. The Chennai Super Kings player has hit only one half-century in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy which signifies that he is yet to find his form back.

Talking about his recent performances in ODI cricket, he had aggregated 54 runs in his last 5 matches where his highest score was 19. The selectors could have rewarded Harshal Patel with a national call-up as the all-rounder has taken 14 wickets and scored 308 runs in just 8 matches of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.