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The Indian team is just coming off a long, tiring and hard-fought tour to New Zealand. The Virat-Kohli led side was extremely proficient and managed to hold their nerves well in the T20Is as they got over the line despite having to fight out two super overs.
What was promising from an Indian perspective in the T20I series was the result, a 5-0 whitewash which bodes well for them heading into the World T20 and also the fact that despite Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli not performing well, other batsmen like KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey contributed to the wins.
Fatigue and lack of their biggest weapon in ODIs in 2019 - Rohit Sharma got to India in the three-match ODI series that they lost 0-3. The likes of Kohli and Bumrah looked listless and proved to be mere shadows of themselves. Bumrah was unable to arrest his slide of poor form in the ODIs where he was handled rather effectively by the Kiwis.
The hosts attacked the other bowlers like Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav and made it almost necessary for Bumrah to strike, which unfortunately for India, did not work in their favour. The series result would have come as a shock for India, but it did come with a fair share of positives.
Post a whitewash in the Test series, the Men in Blue return to the comfort of home conditions for what promises to be an exhilarating summer of cricket, beginning with a three-match ODI series against South Africa.
While the Indian squad for the series against South Africa is yet to be announced, here's a look at three players who might not feature in the team.
#1 Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma enjoyed a spectacular run of form in 2019 and was in great touch across formats. He put up a dominating show at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 with five centuries and also made it into the Indian Test team as an opener.
India’s quest to seal a series win against New Zealand took a huge blow when Rohit picked up an injury and was replaced by Mayank Agarwal in the ODI team. Although Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw failed to impress, the underlining factor was that Rohit's experience was certainly missed at the top of the order.
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While it is unclear if he has fully recovered from the injury he sustained recently, Rohit will likely be given enough time to rest and recover from his injuries because there is a long IPL season coming up.
#2 Shivam Dube
Shivam Dube made all the headlines with his firepower lower down the order for Mumbai and was fast-tracked into the Indian side. Dube had a reasonable start to his T20I career with an impressive showing against Bangladesh in a series-winning effort. But sadly, since then, he hasn't been able to replicate that form with bat or ball.
With Hardik Pandya out of contention for a spot in the NZ series, Dube had the golden opportunity to put up a good show and make a claim for a spot in India's 15-man squad for the World T20.
Unfortunately for him, he was ineffective in the NZ conditions and could not trouble the batsmen with his medium pace in the T20Is. From five matches, Dube scored just 41 runs at a meagre strike rate of 117.14 apart from the two wickets he picked up with the ball.
Having missed out from the playing XIs in the ODI series against NZ and Hardik Pandya proving his return to fitness in the ongoing DY Patil T20 tournament, it wouldn't be wrong to assume that Pandya will take Dube's spot in the ODI series against South Africa.
#3 Kedar Jadhav
For some time now, one issue that has plagued the Indian team is the absence of a quality middle-order batsman who can also don the role of a finisher in the slog overs. India have tested Kedar Jadhav in that position but the right-hander has failed to produce any breakthrough performances.
He is seen as someone who can play the part of a batting all-rounder, someone who can produce good knocks with the bat and can also contribute with some part-time off spin. Jadhav has certainly been given the long rope, and he has not justified his place in the team playing in the lower middle order.
A dip in his batting form had already brought him under the scanner in the past. He has struggled to compile runs with the bat and his fielding and catching which are not exactly his strengths are also proving to be his downfall.
In his last 10 innings, Jadhav has scored 204 runs at an average of 20.4 with only one fifty. His stats speak for his poor form and the Indian selectors should be looking for players who can replace Jadhav in the ODI team.
If Pandya returns to the side, he can provide some medium pace and India can try playing Manish Pandey in Kedar Jadhav's place.
