India vs Sri Lanka: Washington Sundar, Deepak Hooda, Basil Thampi's selections show hosts are finally banking on specialists
Specialists were the need of the hour and India’s selectors have done a commendable job in identifying the right talent and blooding them in before it is too late.
MSK Prasad and his panel of selectors have named a new-look Twenty20 (T20) squad for the series against Sri Lanka opting to give a break to Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan, who are otherwise certainties in the shortest format of the game ahead of the big South Africa tour.
Unlike Indian T20 teams in the recent past which resemble the One Day Internationals (ODI) team, the selectors have resorted to specialists and a legion of youngsters this time around. All-rounders Washington Sundar and Deepak Hooda got the nod while young seamers, Jaydev Unadkat and Basil Thampi, have also found favour with the selection panel.
File photo of Basil Thampi. Image courtesy: News18
Squeezed in between these newbies are some familiar names, although most of them have been forced to remain on the bench a majority of the time in the near past.
There is a bout of freshness about this squad and credit must go to the panel which opted to pull in some fresh legs and test run the bench strength in the country.
"Virat, Bhuvi, and Shikhar have all been rested keeping the South Africa tour in consideration," MSK Prasad, the chairman of selectors, had said.
"With regard to the youngsters, someone like Basil Thampi, Siraj, Hooda, Shreyas Iyer - all these players have been doing really well in domestic cricket. After doing well in domestic cricket we have given them opportunities in India A tours to South Africa and against New Zealand here [at home]. Considering all those performances and taking performances of the top-class IPL we have considered these names."
Here we analyse the new-look T20 squad selected by splitting it up into the various departments.
Rahul and Rohit likely openers unless Iyer gets in the way
Lokesh Rahul, unwanted in the ODI team after his tryst at No 4 in the batting line-up, has been selected, a welcome move considering that the youngster deserves a better run at the top of the order. In the absence of Shikhar Dhawan, Rahul is likely to partner Rohit Sharma at the top of the order unless the Mumbai Indians’ strategy of playing Sharma in the middle-order prevails.
In such a scenario, Shreyas Iyer is also capable of fulfilling the job of opening the batting. Iyer has impressed immensely in the IPL at the top of the order and if not as opener, should atleast be a certainty in the top four of the batting line-up.
The contrasting styles of Iyer and Rahul at the top is enticing, although switching Rohit Sharma to the middle-order may not be feasible. If Rohit does open with Rahul, Iyer could be a handy No 3 to have with his explosive shot-making prowess, especially in powerplay overs where India have a concern or two when Dhawan and Rohit open.
An outside chance should also be there for Washington Sundar, who opened the batting in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), and emerged as the top run-getter with 459 runs in 9 matches at an average of 76.50 with a hundred and three half-centuries.
An all guns blazing middle-order
If the top half of the batting line-up appears daunting, the middle-order is the cream. Boasting of big-hitters such as Hardik Pandya, Deepak Hooda and Shreyas Iyer, sandwiched between the serene influence of MS Dhoni and flamboyance of Manish Pandey, the middle-order, despite the absence of Virat Kohli, has an intimidating look about it.
While Hooda and Pandya are out-and-out hitters, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer and Dinesh Karthik are the influencers, with the two that do play expected to don the Kohli-like role and bat risk-free until the end of the innings. The colossal presence of MS Dhoni further makes the middle-order a scary one.
The slew of all-rounders
Unlike the host of part-time bowlers that once adorned Indian T20 teams — Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh being prominent names in this regard — the present team has a myriad of all-round options.
Washington Sundar, the young all-rounder who bowls off-spin and bats left-handed, shot to fame with his performances in the TNPL. He collected 15 wickets in 9 games at an average of 12.73 and a striking economy rate of 6.16.
Alongside Sundar, India also have Sunrisers Hyderabad player, Deepak Hooda, who is more of a batting all-rounder although his skiddy off-breaks could be a variation for an over or two.
Hardik Pandya is the seam-bowling all-rounder and given that India are experimenting, the player from Baroda might get a promotion in the batting order just to see how he handles the pressure of batting up the order in the shortest format of the game.
Countless slow bowling options
Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal once again call the shots in the limited-overs formats and this means Ashwin and Jadeja continue to remain surplus to requirements. The wrist-spinners have been impressive in their short partnership together and are unlikely to be usurped any time soon.
Hooda and Sundar offer back-up spin options and the presence of these two have ensured that there is no place for either of Axar Patel or Ravindra Jadeja.
A pace attack lead by Bumrah
In the absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah would be the leader of the pace pack, which includes new names, Basil Thampi and Jaydev Unadkat. Mohammad Siraj, who was taken to the cleaners in his debut T20 against New Zealand — he conceded 53 in four overs — continue to remain in the squad in a welcome move. A rare off day is acceptable in this format and Siraj ideally gets one more series to showcase his mettle.
Bumrah has opened the bowling with Bhuvneshwar Kumar in recent times but with Jaydev Unadkat and Mohammad Siraj available, Bumrah might just be used post the tenth over of the innings much akin to how Sunil Narine was employed by the Kolkata Knight Riders once.
In Basil Thampi, the Gujarat Lions seamer, India have a yorker specialist capable of landing ball after ball right in the blockhole every single time. Thampi and Bumrah could together make the death overs a nightmare for opposition batsmen. Unadkat, with his back of the hand slower balls, is also a viable option at the death.
The selectors have done a fine job in bringing in some fresh ginger but need to ensure that all of them get game time during the series. Players like Rohit Sharma or Jasprit Bumrah, both of whom will tour South Africa with the Test team, might not take part after the first game of the series given that India have enough options on the bench.
Specialists were the need of the hour and India’s selectors have done a commendable job in identifying the right talent and blooding them in before it is too late. The horses for courses approach (format-based) also augers well for aspiring young talents in the country.
Published Date: Dec 05, 2017
| Updated Date: Dec 05, 2017
MSK Prasad and his panel of selectors have named a new-look Twenty20 (T20) squad for the series against Sri Lanka opting to give a break to Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan, who are otherwise certainties in the shortest format of the game ahead of the big South Africa tour.
Unlike Indian T20 teams in the recent past which resemble the One Day Internationals (ODI) team, the selectors have resorted to specialists and a legion of youngsters this time around. All-rounders Washington Sundar and Deepak Hooda got the nod while young seamers, Jaydev Unadkat and Basil Thampi, have also found favour with the selection panel.
File photo of Basil Thampi. Image courtesy: News18
Squeezed in between these newbies are some familiar names, although most of them have been forced to remain on the bench a majority of the time in the near past.
There is a bout of freshness about this squad and credit must go to the panel which opted to pull in some fresh legs and test run the bench strength in the country.
"Virat, Bhuvi, and Shikhar have all been rested keeping the South Africa tour in consideration," MSK Prasad, the chairman of selectors, had said.
"With regard to the youngsters, someone like Basil Thampi, Siraj, Hooda, Shreyas Iyer - all these players have been doing really well in domestic cricket. After doing well in domestic cricket we have given them opportunities in India A tours to South Africa and against New Zealand here [at home]. Considering all those performances and taking performances of the top-class IPL we have considered these names."
Here we analyse the new-look T20 squad selected by splitting it up into the various departments.
Rahul and Rohit likely openers unless Iyer gets in the way
Lokesh Rahul, unwanted in the ODI team after his tryst at No 4 in the batting line-up, has been selected, a welcome move considering that the youngster deserves a better run at the top of the order. In the absence of Shikhar Dhawan, Rahul is likely to partner Rohit Sharma at the top of the order unless the Mumbai Indians’ strategy of playing Sharma in the middle-order prevails.
In such a scenario, Shreyas Iyer is also capable of fulfilling the job of opening the batting. Iyer has impressed immensely in the IPL at the top of the order and if not as opener, should atleast be a certainty in the top four of the batting line-up.
The contrasting styles of Iyer and Rahul at the top is enticing, although switching Rohit Sharma to the middle-order may not be feasible. If Rohit does open with Rahul, Iyer could be a handy No 3 to have with his explosive shot-making prowess, especially in powerplay overs where India have a concern or two when Dhawan and Rohit open.
An outside chance should also be there for Washington Sundar, who opened the batting in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), and emerged as the top run-getter with 459 runs in 9 matches at an average of 76.50 with a hundred and three half-centuries.
An all guns blazing middle-order
If the top half of the batting line-up appears daunting, the middle-order is the cream. Boasting of big-hitters such as Hardik Pandya, Deepak Hooda and Shreyas Iyer, sandwiched between the serene influence of MS Dhoni and flamboyance of Manish Pandey, the middle-order, despite the absence of Virat Kohli, has an intimidating look about it.
While Hooda and Pandya are out-and-out hitters, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer and Dinesh Karthik are the influencers, with the two that do play expected to don the Kohli-like role and bat risk-free until the end of the innings. The colossal presence of MS Dhoni further makes the middle-order a scary one.
The slew of all-rounders
Unlike the host of part-time bowlers that once adorned Indian T20 teams — Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh being prominent names in this regard — the present team has a myriad of all-round options.
Washington Sundar, the young all-rounder who bowls off-spin and bats left-handed, shot to fame with his performances in the TNPL. He collected 15 wickets in 9 games at an average of 12.73 and a striking economy rate of 6.16.
Alongside Sundar, India also have Sunrisers Hyderabad player, Deepak Hooda, who is more of a batting all-rounder although his skiddy off-breaks could be a variation for an over or two.
Hardik Pandya is the seam-bowling all-rounder and given that India are experimenting, the player from Baroda might get a promotion in the batting order just to see how he handles the pressure of batting up the order in the shortest format of the game.
Countless slow bowling options
Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal once again call the shots in the limited-overs formats and this means Ashwin and Jadeja continue to remain surplus to requirements. The wrist-spinners have been impressive in their short partnership together and are unlikely to be usurped any time soon.
Hooda and Sundar offer back-up spin options and the presence of these two have ensured that there is no place for either of Axar Patel or Ravindra Jadeja.
A pace attack lead by Bumrah
In the absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah would be the leader of the pace pack, which includes new names, Basil Thampi and Jaydev Unadkat. Mohammad Siraj, who was taken to the cleaners in his debut T20 against New Zealand — he conceded 53 in four overs — continue to remain in the squad in a welcome move. A rare off day is acceptable in this format and Siraj ideally gets one more series to showcase his mettle.
Bumrah has opened the bowling with Bhuvneshwar Kumar in recent times but with Jaydev Unadkat and Mohammad Siraj available, Bumrah might just be used post the tenth over of the innings much akin to how Sunil Narine was employed by the Kolkata Knight Riders once.
In Basil Thampi, the Gujarat Lions seamer, India have a yorker specialist capable of landing ball after ball right in the blockhole every single time. Thampi and Bumrah could together make the death overs a nightmare for opposition batsmen. Unadkat, with his back of the hand slower balls, is also a viable option at the death.
The selectors have done a fine job in bringing in some fresh ginger but need to ensure that all of them get game time during the series. Players like Rohit Sharma or Jasprit Bumrah, both of whom will tour South Africa with the Test team, might not take part after the first game of the series given that India have enough options on the bench.
Specialists were the need of the hour and India’s selectors have done a commendable job in identifying the right talent and blooding them in before it is too late. The horses for courses approach (format-based) also augers well for aspiring young talents in the country.
Published Date:Dec 05, 2017
| Updated Date: Dec 05, 2017
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