IPL 2016: 5 Indian players who have to do well this season to retain their place in the national side

The IPL is a microcosm of the Indian cricketing setup, besides being a glitzy, glamorous event. For the fringe players, it is the single greatest opportunity to hog the spotlight and wrest the opportunity that knocks every year. That is why players in the Indian squad and the hopefuls give the IPL everything they have. This year is no different and we have quite a few players who are going to stake their claim for the playing XI.

There are quite a few players in the Indian XI that played the World Cup who held on to their spot by the skin of their teeth. These players need to prove their worth by performing for their franchise in the IPL as all eyes are on them. Here we take a look at 5 players of the Indian squad who are in a precarious situation as far as selection for future T20 tournaments are concerned.

#1 Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh warmed the bench most of the time for the Indian team. However, he was lucky to have brushed aside some serious competition from young spinners like Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Karn Sharma and a bunch of other new talent scouted by the IPL teams. Harbhajan started the season really well for Mumbai Indians against the KKR picking up the important wicket of Manish Pandey and applying the brakes on the high-flying Knight Riders.

He must continue to do more of the same. It doesn’t help that his home ground is the Wankhede, a batting paradise where bowling at an economy rate of 7 or even 8 is a wonderful accomplishment. That will skew Harbhajan’s numbers drastically, which means he should go all out for wickets.

#2 Shikhar Dhawan

Dhawan had a terrible World Cup. He was lucky to make it to the squad after failing in the Asia Cup. A half-century in the Final probably saved his place. However, Dhawan managed just 43 runs at a dismal average of 10.75 in 4 innings with a highest score of 23 at the top, affecting India’s performances drastically. His strike-rate was a poor 82.69. Dhawan lost his place to Ajinkya Rahane in the semi-final against West Indies.

If his downward slide continues, he may not make it to the Indian T20 squad. It helps that he can focus on his batting at the top while David Warner captains the Sunrisers Hyderabad team. He failed on a flat batting track against Royal Challengers Bangalore and time is definitely running out for the southpaw, known for his swashbuckling batting style, half of a sensational batting pair along with Rohit Sharma.

#3 Suresh Raina

Raina hasn’t played an impactful knock in the blue jersey in a really long while. He scored 41 runs in 4 innings at 10.25 in the World Cup. He doesn’t offer security either, generally all over the place against the short ball or the moving ball or any ball that has some life and spite in it. His reputation as a flat track bully is not helping. To make matters worse, his CSK mojo isn’t going to help him as the team itself has been disbanded.

Instead of the calm presence of MS Dhoni to help him out, Raina is in the thick of things as the skipper of the Gujarat Lions. Time is running out for Raina and he has taken aeons to work on that prolonged weakness against the rising ball that has been his undoing. It erodes his confidence on the crease and slaps his usual flamboyance on the front foot with an unassured approach evident in the last few months. One wonders if Raina will benefit from the captaincy stint in the IPL or if it will be his undoing!

#4 Pawan Negi

Negi didn’t get a match but the mere stint in the Indian dressing room would have done wonders to his confidence that had grown by leaps and bounds as he played for CSK under Dhoni. A low-order hitter, Negi is more a left-arm spinner than a batsman but has to hone his batting skills to compete against the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. He is a genuine six-hitter.

His bowling style is not too different from Jadeja’s as he doesn’t turn the ball far and wide and relies on subtle variations. He is playing for Delhi Daredevils which hasn’t had the best of times at the IPL. Rahul Dravid as the mentor will help greatly but unless Negi, who averages 26 with the ball and 19 with the bat in T20 cricket performs consistently, he is likely to miss out on a slot in the national squad.

#5 Yuvraj Singh

In 4 matches in the World Cup, Yuvraj scored 52 runs including a critical innings against Pakistan in a supporting act – a repeat of what he did against the same team in the Asia Cup. However, Yuvraj only looked a pale shadow of his former self. The back-lift still doesn’t have that flair it once had, the arch has slowed down and the hand-eye coordination seems hassled at times by a moving ball.

For a man who has seen great highs and greater lows, Yuvraj doesn’t need too much advice. He is on the wrong side of 30 and one wonders if he has it in him to last till the 2019 World Cup. But his immediate goal would be to retain his place in the squad. He has a new team –the Sunrisers Hyderabad and he has to adjust all over again. Yuvraj has played for several sides.

He is one of those rare players whose national form has always been better than the franchise form even though he plays against many players way below his league. But this time around, Yuvraj needs to show what he is capable of with some consistent knocks that will be appreciated by his team. Recovering from the injury and hitting the ground running may not be easy. But Yuvraj’s life has never been easy!