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Mohd Siraj isn’t having the best of IPL this year. The Royal Challengers Bangalore’s speedster is almost regularly sent on a leather hunt. As a result, eyebrows are being raised about his credentials to board the West Indies bound flight with the Indian team for the T20 World Cup. The commonly asked questions are: Does he really deserve the slot? Can Siraj be picked on the basis of his Asia Cup final match performance that happened last year in a 50-over format?
With the Indian selectors always having a conventional mind-set over the years with a tried-and-tested formula, Siraj may just sneak into the team, what say you? With Jasprit Bumrah at the helm of the bowling attack, Arshdeep could also break into the T20 side. By his own admission, chairman of the selection committee, Ajit Agarkar and the others on the panel won’t surely opt for knee-jerk reactions like the fans of our country
Whatever little success we have had in different formats of the game, it has always been because of bowling. It’s a cliché to say that bowlers win your tournaments. It is more or less understood that top in-form bowlers would be the preferred choice over reputation. But if the form disappears, which is temporary, what happens to those choices our selectors would make after considering the performances of our bowlers.
Going by tried-and-tested format, even Yuzi Chahal should also get a look in ahead of Ravi Bishnoi purely based on form and reputation, why can’t that happen? The problem here is that you can’t question the selectors much, if you do, you do it at your peril.
The bigger problem could be if Kuldeep Yadav isn’t fully fit for the T20 World Cup. He is in such great form, not selecting him due to an injury or not picking him for the sake of combination would mean a huge loss for India. It is a catch 22 situation now for those five wise men.
Form wise, even Mukesh Kumar isn’t a bad choice. You don’t need fast bowlers with pace. Preferably, you need quick bowlers who are skilled enough to use the slowness of the tracks in the West Indies and America. Therefore, getting the bowling combo right is the key to India’s success in the T20 World Cup. You get this one wrong, India’s dream of doing well will surely go up in smoke!
