India’s Case of Plenty and Poor Choice

The Indian cricket team picked for the upcoming T20 Cricket World Cup is undoubtedly the weakest ever to represent the country in any ICC meet as the selection process is devoid of consistency and rationale. It is quite perplexing that the selectors, who decided to build a young team after the debacle in the World Cup two years ago, have once again picked most of the players from the same team, ignoring the rightful claims of the youngsters who have proven their mettle during the last two years in the absence of senior players. After India’s unceremonious departure from the last World Cup, the selectors had dropped stalwarts like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from bilateral T20 series, indicating that their careers in the shorter version of the game is nearing the end. There was nothing wrong in dropping these players, considering the level of fitness demanded for this particular format of the game. As a matter of fact, India’s only success in this championship came in the inaugural edition in 2007, and that too in the absence of big names like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble. All of them had opted out of the World Cup saying that the format was too fast for their comfort. Keeping this example in mind, the selectors could well drop the current senior players who are in the twilight of their career in this format or not fully fit, and give chance to some promising young faces whom they have nurtured for the last two years. However, they have chosen to retain them.

This is why cricket experts like former England captain Michael Vaughan have kept India out of the potential contenders’ list for the title. Many former Indian cricketers like Irfan Pathan and Akash Chopra too have expressed similar views. Barring Rishabh Pant’s return to the team after recovering in time from a horrific road accident, there is nothing much to be excited about the team. There are only two real match winners in the team, one is Pant and the other Jasprit Bumrah. Recent strike rates of both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are indicative enough that they are well past their prime. Surya Kumar Yadav may be the world’s best T20 batter, but he is still struggling to find his rhythm after a long injury-induced lay off. Same is the case with Hardik Pandya. Shivam Dube and Axar Patel have been picked but they may not get much opportunity at the crease. By picking Sanju Samson, the selectors have made the same blunder they made with Dinesh Kartik in the last World Cup. More worrying is India’s pace bowling department, as Mohammed Shami has been ruled out due to an angle surgery. India’s struggle to find for a suitable pacer to support Jasprit Bumrah could hurt the team badly.