TALKING POINTS
Follow UsAnd with that, ladies and gentlemen, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have opened a Pandora's box. Just two names, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, have done such stark damage to the already existing T20 plans.
So, what does Rohit, Kohli’s return do to the setup?
Since that wretched T20 World Cup semi-final loss at the hands of England, Rohit and Kohli haven’t played a single T20I. They have missed all of India’s 25 T20Is that were played since then. That’s a huge number, given that these three T20Is against Afghanistan are the last experimentation phase for the Men in Blue.
What happens if both Rohit and Kohli get into the XI? The top three slots are gone. That’s exactly what will happen in the series against Afghanistan, with the duo being slotted at the opening and No.3, respectively, which means that only one of Shubman Gill or Yashasvi Jaiswal could feature in the setup.
Read: The repercussions of going back to Rohit and Kohli in T20Is
While Rohit and Kohli’s class are unquestionable, their T20 form is where a line could be drawn. In the 2023 IPL, the last T20 competition that the duo played, Rohit had 332 runs @22.13 and a strike-rate of 134.4, which were quite underwhelming numbers. However, on the other hand, Kohli had an IPL to look out for, with 639 runs @53.25 and 139.8, including two hundreds.
But the caveat is that all of Kohli’s numbers were as an opener. If that’s the case, then there’s no room for Yashasvi Jaiswal or Gill, both of whom have shown thunderous hitting abilities, batting with a strike-rate of above 150, which has become the prerequisite for openers worldwide.
That also means there will be no room for Ishan Kishan either, who has opened in 67% of all T20s he has played. Only on a few occasions has the left-hander batted in the middle-order, which has opened the door for Sanju Samson…..
Chance for Samson to stake a claim?
Ahead of the Ranji Trophy, a particular clip floated on the internet, Sanju Samson practising against the white-ball. Now, we all know why. Samson’s last T20I was last year against Ireland, and since then, the duo of Kishan and Jitesh Sharma have leapfrogged him in the pecking order.
However, for unknown reasons, Kishan isn’t a part of the Indian setup, and Samson is the second-choice wicketkeeper for the Afghanistan series. Samson’s 2023 IPL season was a pretty weird one. He started the tournament on a very dull note and scored just 181 runs, averaging mere 25.68. Moreover, he was also dismissed twice on a duck.
In the second half, though, the Kerala batter had an average of 36.2 and a low strike-rate of 148.4 compared to the 158.8 he had in the first half. That makes up for quite a confusing read and also highlights how his game has been more conservative. If India does slot Samson in, it will be in the role of finisher, so can he do the job?
Who among Jaiswal or Gill sits out?
Do you think Kohli and Rohit's return would be that simple? It only makes it more and more complicated. Neither Jaiswal nor Gill have done anything to sit out, given how they have performed at the 2023 IPL, nor is Rohit’s game superior at the top of the order to displace either of the two.
Read: Yashasvi Jaiswal is the T20I opener India desperately need
That’s where their return further complicates things. In this current Indian setup, Gill is likely to be given the nod ahead of Jaiswal, considering that he is up the pecking order, but what Jaiswal does is perhaps unheralded since Virender Sehwag’s time in an Indian jersey.
Jaiswal is the designated ‘powerplay basher’ whose job is to go gung-ho from ball one and get the team off to a flyer. He’s embraced it in some style: 14 matches into his T20I career, the 21-year-old has a powerplay strike rate of 158.7.
So, will that tilt it in Jaiswal's favour? It is a tricky call.
Which of these pacers makes it to the World Cup?
At first glance, it might look like Arshdeep Singh could be a lock given his uniqueness - left-arm angle. But then, you have to remember that all of Arshdeep’s exploits in South Africa were in the 50-over format.
The left-arm pacer has picked up 59 T20I wickets, but his form in the last year - 2023 - has been quite puzzling. Arshdeep picked up 26 wickets but averaged 24.46, a -6.34 jump from his last year’s average, and has conceded runs at 9.26, which is marginally higher from 2022.
Not just that, in between the five-match T20I series, Arshdeep was dropped from the setup. On the other hand, Avesh and Mukesh Kumar have different journeys. Avesh’s last T20I clash came in the Australia series, where his numbers - 54.50 average and 9.08 ER - were a nightmare. Mukesh had quite a confusing South Africa series, where his economy rate was 11.
Read: Why Mukesh might leapfrog the duo?
But what Mukesh gives the Indian team is his ability at the death, which Arshdeep offered at some point. Is that a game-changer?
Kuldeep vs Bishnoi, a long-standing rivalry
Any team would much rather have a good selection headache than a bad selection headache.
As it stands, India are spoiled for choices in the spin department; it’s going to be an incredibly difficult decision to choose between Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi. It is a problem that has stood out over time, be it the series against Australia or South Africa.
Read: Series takeaways: Jaiswal & Rinku indispensable, WK spot undecided & more
So, it is part of the tradition for the rivalry to continue… Who will make it to the XI now?
A confirmed shoot-out between Sundar and Axar
Given that Ravindra Jadeja is more or less certain for the upcoming T20 World Cup, it puts a firm spotlight on the duo of Axar Patel and Washington Sundar. Now, they have a lot of things in common, yet they are quite different from each other.
There’s Axar, a left-handed batter, a left-arm spinner and an able all-rounder. Then there’s Washington, a left-handed batter, an off-spinner and an able all-rounder. But there’s really a slot only for one of the two all-rounders.
The issue is that both of them stand at quite different cauldrons at the moment. In the last two years (since 2022), Washington has only averaged 19.25 with the bat, and his strike rate of 128 isn’t that convincing either. But then there’s his bowling, 22 wickets, with an economy of 7.7, with a strike-rate of 32.1.
Since 2022, Axar’s bowling numbers (50 wickets @7.5 ER and 24.9 strike-rate) have leapt over Washington's. Then you look at his batting, where his strike-rate of 147.1 is much better than the Tamil Nadu all-rounder.
So why does that still put Sundar in contention? Well, he’s an off-spinner and an all-rounder at it. It is something that stops the Indian side from going back to Ravichandran Ashwin. But having warmed the bench for seven consecutive T20Is, does Sundar stay in contention?
At this point, India go into the Afghanistan series with a lot more questions than they have in answers, and how they solve the Rohit-Kohli issue could give us an insight into how prepared they are.
