T20 World Cup 2021: 5 unlucky Indian players who deserved a chance

The BCCI has finally announced Team India’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021. Amidst all the speculations and rumors, the squad has definitely managed to impress the Indian cricket fans. Several deserving players have been included as well. However, the one problem with a cricketing nation having abundant talent is the fact that a lot of quality players get neglected. As harsh as it might sound, the Indian selectors have ignored a few talented players. Despite not really doing anything wrong, a handful of Indian cricketers can’t see their names in this squad. The only thing that one can say in this scenario is that a few cricketers have been “Unlucky”. Thus, it is safe to say that these Indian cricketers could have been in the squad had luck been on their side. Today, we shall be speaking about 5 players who deserved a chance in T20 World Cup 2021. T20 World Cup 2021: 5 unlucky Indian players who deserved a chance 5) Krunal Pandya Krunal Pandya. (Photo Source: Twitter) Krunal Pandya has been one of the best genuine all-rounders in the shortest format of the game for India in the last few years. It gets sadder when you realize that Krunal Pandya has several match-winning performances against top teams in his short T20I career. He had instantly made a mark when he took a four-fer against Australia in Australia. He won a match against New Zealand in New Zealand and was superb against the West Indies at their home back in 2019. His T20I stats seem more than decent as well. The Mumbai Indians (MI) all-rounder has picked 15 wickets in 19 T20I games at an average and strike rate of 36.93 and 27.33 respectively. He is more than handy with the bat and has a T20I strike rate of 130.53. How can one forget his performances for MI in the IPL? One can say that he was unlucky to have tested positive for COVID-19 during the T20Is series against Sri Lanka and thus, couldn’t showcase his current form to the selectors. 4) Sanju Samson Sanju Samson. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images) Sanju Samson is arguably one of the most talented players from India. Several cricket pundits and experts rate him really highly. However, he has always been in and out of India’s T20I side. While one can say that he hasn’t really done anything noteworthy to have been chosen in the squad, one must not forget the fact that one can never unsee talent. Besides, the Kerala wicketkeeper was fairly successful in UAE conditions for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in 2020. His hitting ability could have been handy going into the tournament. Another important point to remember is that Samsom was superb in the first half of IPL 2021. However, the selectors decided to pick Ishan Kishan instead of him as Kishan performed better than him in his opportunities. Thus, it is really sad to see a talented player like Samson not make it into the squad. 3) Prithvi Shaw Prithvi Shaw. (Photo by ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images) Prithvi Shaw is currently the man in form. 2021 has turned out to be a good year for him as he kept performing in the limited opportunities he got. His aggressive approach is tailor-made for the shortest format of the game. The Mumbai opener was in red hot form during the first phase of IPL 2021 as well. He was consistently scoring runs as he went on to score 308 runs in just the 8 games. His batting average and strike rate were 38.50 and 166.48 respectively. To add to this, he was scoring boundaries for fun in the recently concluded ODI series against Sri Lanka. Although he couldn’t have made it to the playing XI as India already have Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, he would have certainly been a good backup option. Thus, Shaw would consider himself unlucky as he did everything he could but still didn’t make it to the squad for the T20 WC. 2) Shikhar Dhawan Shikhar Dhawan. (Photo by ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images) Now, this has to be one of the most shocking calls taken by the selectors. Seldom you would see a senior player get dropped just before an ICC tournament. What makes it more absurd is the fact that his recent form was decent. The Indian opener was India’s captain in their last T20I series as well. To make matters more confusing, he had scored the most number of runs in that T20I series. It seems strange when you realize that he has worked on his strike rate as well. The Delhi opener was the best batsman of the first phase of IPL 2021 as well. He had scored 380 runs in just the 8 games. His batting average and strike-rate were 54.28 and 134.27 respectively. 1) Yuzvendra Chahal Yuzvendra Chahal. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images) Unarguably the unluckiest of them all, Chahal has been omitted from the WC squad. This is really absurd in nature as he was India’s lead spinner in T20Is until yesterday. As a matter of fact, he was supposed to be one of India’s key players going into the tournament. His ability to pick wickets at regular intervals truly makes him an “X-Factor”. His bowling is ideal for the shortest format of the game. He has picked 63 wickets in just the 49 T20I games. This includes the best figures by an Indian spinner in T20I history. The mystery continues as he also happened to be the most successful bowler in the last T20Is series in which he featured. Despite all of this, the Indian selectors decided to recall Ravi Ashwin to the squad and dropped Chahal.

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T20 World Cup 2021: 5 unlucky Indian players who deserved a chance

It is safe to say that these Indian cricketers could have been in the squad had luck been on their side.

1) Yuzvendra Chahal

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