India vs West Indies: 5 Indian players who deserved to be in ODI and T20I squads

The home season  in India continues and surges on. After hosting Bangladesh in the historic D/N Test at the iconic Eden Gardens Kolkata, they will be hosting the West Indies for a three match T20I and ODI series. The focus once again will shift firmly on the ICC T20 World Cup next year in Australia. The visitors have named big hitting Kieron Pollard their captain.

He knows a thing or two about playing in India courtesy his time with Mumbai Indians in the IPL. He can use his vast experience to galvanize his side to perform well against a formidable India. They will be coming into the T20I series after being humbled by Afghanistan 1-2 at Lucknow. After resting himself for the T20Is against Bangladesh to give his body some much needed break, Virat Kohli returns to lead the side.

Rahul Chahar and Sanju Samson, who were both a part of India’s squad for the series against Bangladesh, have been dropped rather unceremoniously. Pacers Khaleel Ahmed and Shardul Thakur made way for Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami, who last played a T20I for India in 2017, while Jadeja returns as a like-for-like replacement for all-rounder Krunal Pandya.

For Bhuvneshwar it’s a comeback of sorts after his tryst with back and hamstring injuries in the recent past. He will be looking forward to leading the bowling attack along with the in-form Deepak Chahar and Shami. The selections made for this series reflects the mindset of the selectors to chop and change their T20I squad to get the perfect set of players and combinations as they near the mega event next year.

But there are players who were picked in the team for the T20Is against Bangladesh and were never given a chance to play, before being dropped for the West Indies series. Also, some players deserved to play in this series on the basis of their performances in the domestic circuit.

Here’s taking a look at five India players who deserved to play in the West Indies series:

Rahul Chahar

Rahul Chahar, the leg-spinner and cousin of current sensation Deepak Chahar made to the Indian T20I setup based on his performances for Rajasthan and Mumbai Indians in the IPL for two years. The lion-hearted performer gives it a nice spin and never shies away from flighting the ball to entice the batsmen to go after him.

With Yuzvendra Chahal in the squad, the selectors seemed to have wanted to bring back Kuldeep Yadav into the mix and go in with ‘Kulcha’ for the West Indies series. It’s a move in the right direction keeping in mind that India would want their frontline spinners to get some game time ahead of the ICC T20 World.

It is very unfair on Rahul Chahar, who merits some games atleast in the T20Is against the West Indies. He has played with and against many of their batsmen and would have offered lot for Virat Kohli to work with. But such are times where competition for few spots are so high that Chahar had to miss out.

Mayank Agarwal

Consistent performances in the domestic circuit does get noticed, albeit a little late. Consistent performances for Karnataka and decent returns for his IPL side KXIP meant that Mayank Agarwal made it to the Indian Test team on their historic series win against Australia down-under. The Karnataka opener got an opportunity to be part of the ICC World Cup 2019 team after Vijay Shankar got injured.

He almost made his debut for India in coloured clothing courtesy his dynamic batting style. A batting style that would remind one of Virender Sehwag, he can score quickly and is very exciting to watch. With the amount of cricket to come up, especially India’s tour of New Zealand, there was a good opportunity for the selectors to rest either Rohit Sharma or Shikhar Dhawan.

Instead, they could have given Agarwal an opportunity to show his skill in LOIs. Also, with having hit two double centuries for India in whites, this was the perfect opportunity to give him his maiden chance to convert this golden run of form into something big in LOIs, especially with questions raised about Shikhar Dhawan’s performances in T20Is.

Sanju Samson

The Kerala wicket-keeper batsman was picked into the squad for the Bangladesh T20I series after a spectacular performance in domestic cricket this year. Sanju Samson scored a stroke filled 204 against Goa in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. But Samson was not given a chance to play in the series, with Rishabh Pant being preferred over him in the playing XI. Rishabh Pant not only was a big disappointment with the bat, he was a bigger let-down with the wicket-keeping gloves.

Despite Pant not scoring too many runs with the bat, and also facing criticisms over his wicketkeeping abilities, the youngster keeps getting the continuous support of the team management. Not sure until when the selectors loose faith in him especially with the mega event coming up.

The decision to leave Samson out for the upcoming T20Is has raised a lot of eyebrows. Fans and experts are finding it hard to comprehend the reasons behind leaving the youngster out without giving him any chance to show his potential.  The pressure on Pant will be understandably high as now people would be looking at him to deliver big with the bat and gloves against the West Indies- the question to be asked is can he perform?

Shubman Gill

It’s extremely surprising and worrying to see someone with the talent and potential of Shubman Gill constantly get picked in the Test team, ODI and T20I team for India and not get even a look in. If the team management are not convinced with him playing in the team, they should release him so that he can actively be involved in the domestic circuit.

Gill became the youngest player at the age of 20 to lead a team to tournament success in the Deodhar Trophy. He led India B to glory recently, also displaying some breath-taking shots in the championship. His compact technique and the wide array of shots in his arsenal, makes him a perfect fit to replace one of the openers or slot into the middle-order.

India are still very top order dependent in T20Is with the middle-order not performing upto expectations. Someone like Gill along with Shreyas Iyer can and should be tried out so that the selectors know that he could be an option in the ICC T20 World Cup. It is baffling to see him miss out against the West Indies, but the hope is he will be given an opportunity in India’s tour to New Zealand.

Dinesh Karthik

What India is missing in their current T20I team is an able finisher who can absorb pressure and deliver when it matters the most. That role was given to MSD and post the World Cup 2019, with him missing from all action there has to be someone to fill in his shoes. With the ICC T20 World Cup coming up, Virat Kohli needs someone in good hitting form with experience to steer the innings coming in at #6 or #7 in T20Is.

On current form the likes of Rishabh Pant and Krunal Pandya are completely letting down the team with the bat. With Hardik Pandya back in action for the Windies series, India would get that big hitter down the order. But they are missing out big time by not capitalizing on Dinesh Karthik’s current form.

DK has been ousted from India’s LOIs plans off late, but a closer look at his recent performances as skipper and batsman for Tamil Nadu would present us a very impressive picture. 247 runs in 8 matches at an average of 41.18 and strike-rate of 146.19 speaks for itself.

With Rishabh Pant’s confidence at an all time low and with all the criticism hurled at him and also with the focus being on winning the silverware in Australia, DK’s experience and form could have been tested against the West Indies.