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Neither Yashasvi Jaiswal nor Shubman Gill are in red-hot form in the IPL. The ones who are in great touch are KL Rahul and Sanju Samson and top five of the highest run-getters in IPL after Virat Kohli. Rather than choosing one of them – either Rahul or Samson – both should be in the team. Going by the principle of judging the form of Virat Kohli in IPL as a yardstick for his selection in India’s T20 World Cup team, both Samson and Rahul are way ahead of Jaiswal and Gill.
Just that the youngsters – Jaiswal and Gill – have proved their worth at the highest levels – doesn’t mean that they can supersede the seniors who have embraced consistency. Interestingly, both Rahul and Sanju can also open the innings, do wicket-keeping, and bat in the middle-order, which gives a plethora of options for the team management to go ahead with the best possible XI. In the final 15 that the selectors are going to be picking for the T20 World Cup, India could still have eight bowling options with Sanju and Rahul in the mix.\
Right from Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzi Chahal/ Ravi Bishnoi, who could be India’s main six bowlers, Hardik Pandya and another spinner like Axar Patel or Shivam Dube could give India eight bowling options in the tournament. Considering the slowness of the track in the West Indies and the US, India could be tempted to try out at least four spinners if not five.
But ideally, three spinners along with a Dube in place of Axar won’t be a bad idea, as both are slow bowlers. Even Yuzi Chahal isn’t a bad option. Even if the selectors keep an open mind, Chahal is the best option. He is better than Ravi Bishnoi right now. Whether the selectors think it like that or not is a matter of debate. Most of the former cricketers are plugging Chahal’s name in the squad, which is great news for the leggie. With most of the bowlers going for runs, victimizing Siraj, who has delivered in big games and gained a lot of experience along with Arshdeep – are tried and tested options before the selectors. Hardik being the fourth pacer, the contentious point could be another finger spinner or a slow bowling option like Dube in the final 15.
It will also be interesting to see if Shashank Singh, the unknown entity, could get a nod ahead of scratchy Rinku Singh. At least, the selectors should honour Shashank’s consistency. He is 32 and it is now or never for him. Laat time, India won an ICC event way back in 2013, the selectors had picked the team based on the performances. Hope, it all happens again this time!
Predicted XV: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Shashank Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzi Chahal, Jasprit Burmah, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Sanju Samson, KL Rahul Mohd Siraj and Shivam Dube
