Given the overarching feeling that there is a need for change in India’s T20 cricket, there are opportunities for fringe players to make a strong case to be part of India’s first-choice squad, even when the regulars become available. With the next T20 World Cup in 2024, it’s a chance for India to start afresh and redefine the way they want to approach the shortest format of the game.
In Rohit’s absence, Hardik Pandya has once again been appointed India’s T20I captain. Only time will tell if he is a temporary replacement, or whether the elevation is a more permanent promotion, as India build towards the next T20 World Cup. This series is a chance for Hardik to lead without the pressures of winning a major event at short notice – a luxury Rohit did not have; he took over with barely eight months to prepare for the World Cup in Australia.
Since then, Hardik has led India in T20Is in Ireland, West Indies and most recently New Zealand, and the chorus for him to take over the captaincy full time has been growing louder within Indian cricket circles. This series – and the selection for the next one against New Zealand – could give us an indication about the possibility of a transition. Hardik also has a new deputy with Suryakumar Yadav, India’s best T20 batter of 2022, getting a promotion to vice-captain.
When Ishan Kishan smashed 56 off 32 balls on T20I debut against an England side featuring Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid, it appeared as though India had found a key piece of their T20I puzzle. Kishan went on to be a part of India’s 2021 T20 World Cup squad, but quickly lost his way. An underwhelming IPL 2022 season did not help his cause, even though he continued to feature in second-string Indian squads.
India will also have a new opening combination for this series, with Kishan likely to team up with either Shubman Gill or Ruturaj Gaikwad in Pant’s absence. Gill has not yet played a T20 international, and is coming off a Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament in which he scored 260 runs as an opener at an average of 52 and strike rate of 156.62. Gaikwad’s numbers are similar – 295 runs at an average of 59 and strike rate of 146.7 – and he has not played a T20I for India since the tour of Ireland in July last year. Will India be able to find that explosive opening combination they’ve been searching for?
With Washington Sundar fully fit, India’s all-rounder stocks look healthy for the home series, with Deepak Hooda and Axar Patel to choose from as well, in addition to Hardik. Washington played only one T20I on the tour of New Zealand but his ability to bowl in the powerplay and his ever-improving batting skills gives India options. He had scores of 37* off 16 balls in an ODI in New Zealand, and 51 and 37 in ODIs in Bangladesh.
Arshdeep Singh started as a powerplay specialist but his responsibilities have grown in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence. His ability to nail the yorker and his calm temperament has made Arshdeep an asset in the death overs, and currently he is the only left-arm pacer in India’s T20 plans. He was India’s best bowler at the 2022 T20 World Cup and took 4 for 37 in the tied third T20I in New Zealand in November.
