In all likelihood, India have played their last T20I of 2016 earlier this week when they faced West Indies in a two-match T20I series in Florida, USA. India might have lost the series 1-0, but they put on a great fight in both the matches.
India have a lot to ponder about their squad in this format going into next year. They have a lot of spots to fill and the ones taking responsibility in those positions at the moment are not meeting the demands.
Going into 2016, India need to take some big decisions when they play their next T20I in 2017. Who all from the current team will keep their places in India’s next T20I? Who all should make it to the national squad in this format? What should be the Indian T20I when they take on the field next time?
Let us take a look at what should be India’s T20I XI in their next match in this format.
Openers
Rohit Sharma might have been a liability for India in tests, but when it comes to the limited overs formats, Rohit is right there at the top with Virat Kohli as India’s best batsman. He is an automatic choice to open the innings for team India in T20Is. But his opening partner is a concern for the team.
In spite of getting a lot of chances in the T20 format, Shikhar Dhawan has failed to prove himself and is highly inconsistent with the bat. 416 runs at an average of 22 and a strike-rate of just over 113 are not good numbers for an opener in T20Is. Ajinkya Rahane’s numbers look similar to that of Dhawan and at times, Rahane slows down the scoring rate of the team, which is not the right way to approach the batting in this format.
On the other hand, KL Rahul showed a lot of promise in the very few T20Is he has played. Even in the IPL, Rahul was one of the shining stars for his team, Royal Challengers Bangalore. Though he has played a majority of his T20 innings in the middle order, he himself has revealed that he likes to open the innings in this format.
He is not new to this role and Rahul opening alongside Rohit will allow the latter to play his natural game and bat as long as possible.
Opening batsmen: Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul
Middle order
The first name that comes into the Indian team across any format will be Virat Kohli. Kohli has been India’s best batsman for the last 3-4 years and in the last 1 year, he has mastered the art of performing consistently in the T20s.
He is one name who can open the innings for India in T20Is as he has done it past and produced a fine performance that saw him scoring more than 900 runs in the 2016 IPL. An opening combination of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will give nightmares to the opposition, but it will also make the Indian middle order weak, considering the fact that both Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh might not find a place in the team in the future and MS Dhoni is not in his prime anymore.
So for the betterment of the Indian batting in T20s, Kohli batting at no.3 will be of more use than him opening the batting. This will help Kohli to capitalize on the start given by the openers and carry the innings forward and in the worst case scenario, repairing the innings and putting things back on track.
Manish Pandey has been very consistent with the bat in the recent past. It is almost certain that he will be an automatic choice in the Indian middle order in the limited over formats. Skipper MS Dhoni will occupy the number 5 spot as it is the position that fits him perfectly and allows him to play his natural game.
The number 6 position is something that will be a worry for the Indian T20 side going into the future. With the absence of Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, this spot remains vacant and there is no favourite for this position. The likes of Sarfaraz Khan, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav will be competing for the remaining spot in the middle order.
Pandya was a part of the T20 team that played the World T20 in 2016 and was dropped from the team owing his poor form. With India likely to play their next T20I match against England in 2017, there is a lot of time for Pandya to get his rhythm and make a comeback into the team.
On the other hand, Sarfaraz Khan has shown glimpses of what he is capable of in the IPL and the two under 19 World Cups he played. But his skipper at Royal Challengers Bangalore, Virat Kohli dropped him from the team citing his physical abilities.
There were reports that Sarfaraz is taking it seriously and has lost some weight since the IPL got over. With the amount of time he has, the onus will be on him to redeem himself, become fitter and get called up to the national side.
Pandya and Sarfaraz coming into the T20I will surely bolster the India’s lower middle order, an area which has been a concern for a while. Having Pandya in the team gives the captain an extra option to bowl him if one of his bowlers go for runs.
One more alternative for this will be making Rahane open the innings with Rohit, demote Rahul to no.4 and make Pandey and Dhoni bat at 5 and 6 respectively.
Middle order: Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya/Sarfaraz Khan
Spinners
Yet another concern for the Indian team is the no.7 position, a position in which the player is expected to contribute with both bat and ball. Ravindra Jadeja is the one who is given the crucial position, but he is not justifying his place in the team.
Though he has done reasonably well with the ball, he has failed to contribute with the bat. With few teams batting till no. 9 in this format, India will look to have a strong batting line up till 6 with R Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar coming in at 8 and 9.
Looking at Jadeja’s contribution with the bat, it will be a wise move by the selectors if they decide to look for more options for this particular position. A name that comes to our mind as a replacement for Jadeja is Axar Patel. Axar has the same attributes as Jadeja, but he can contribute with the bat and play some good cameos towards the end.
The second spinner’s slot will be given to one of the best spinners at the moment, Ravichandran Ashwin. If the team management decides to go in with three spinners and two pacers, Amit Mishra will make the cut as the third spinner.
Spinners: Axar Patel, R Ashwin.
Fast bowlers:
If you are a fan of Indian fast bowling, then this is the perfect time for you to live. After all these years, India have finally found a good set of pacers who can bowl well in all the conditions.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar can swing the new ball both the ways and trouble the batsmen and he proved that he is no pushover when it comes to bowling at the death. He has got good backing from both Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah in the recently concluded T20Is against West Indies.
Shami has looked lethal ever since he came back from the injury. He is someone who can bowl yorkers at will and he will come in handy in the death overs for team India. Just like Shami, Bumrah is one of the best bowlers who can bowl good yorkers regularly.
Most likely, Bumrah will be used as the death over specialist and will be bowling all his overs after the 11th over while Shami and Bhuvi will be sharing the new ball with Bhuvi bowling majority of the overs right at the start.
If the team management decides to go in with three spinners and two pacers, Bhuvneshwar will be the likely candidate to miss out from the XI.
Fast bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah.
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