5 areas of concern for India's T20 team

#4 Selection - Work in progress

There have been some strange selections that have plagued the T20 team. It can be classified into two areas. Illogical selection of players in the squad by selectors & goof-ups by team management in the playing XI. Let's look at the current squad itself. In the name of workload management & World Cup preparation, we have ended up with the current squad. The basic criteria of any selection committee should be picking players who are worthy of India cap and would play for a long time. However, the rationale behind the selection of certain players seems questionable.

Leg spinner - India won quite a few series with the spinners Chahal & Kuldeep. In spite of them doing so well and mesmerising batsmen world over, still, they were dropped for reasons unknown. With Rahul Chahar, having the highest score of 13* and 28 wickets in 27 odd domestic T20 games, there is nothing extraordinary about his bowling, records or skills that he is chosen ahead of the spin duo, whom India had backed till recently.

Left-arm spinner - In recent times, India has played three left-arm spinners in Jadeja, Krunal & Axar. If you compare all the three players in T20Is, there is very little difference between them. Krunal may be marginally better with the bat, but in terms of bowling & fielding, the other two fare far better. But, why would you choose him over one of the best left-arm spinners in the world, lightening fielder and a player who has scored Test hundred in Ravindra Jadeja? If better wicket-taking abilities were the reason why Jadeja and Ashwin were replaced by Chahal & Kuldeep, what's the point in going to Krunal, who isn't doing that great with the ball & field, and has been inconsistent with the bat.

Fast bowlers - With Shami, Umesh, Bhuvi, Bumrah, Deepak Chahar, Saini in the ranks, there no reason to keep Khaleel and Shardul, who continue to fail. Military medium bowlers with an average speed of 130 kph are just the right hitting speed for modern-day batsmen. And that shows in their economy rates, there is nothing much a skipper can do, with bowlers giving away 8+ runs an over.

All-rounder - Till recently, Vijay Shankar was seen as the backup of Hardik, now, the onus has been put on Shivam. If you look at his domestic records, there is nothing significant for him to be chosen. An all-rounder is valuable to any team, but to find one is rare. And the India 'A' performances based on which, he was selected, didn't have any defining spell with the ball. India would be better placed if an experienced batsman plays if bowling is not the criteria.

Wicketkeeper - A lot has been written and talked about Pant. So, there is nothing much to be added, except that performances should matter and they should come with an expiry date. And if Samson is not going to play, then there's no point in having two keepers in the squad. It is disappointing to see Pant getting out on the same shot, missing easy dismissals, goofing up on DRS.

Off-spinner - Hands down, Ravi Ashwin is the master here. With the bat and with the ball, Ashwin is the better and more experienced player than Washington. Whether IPL or international cricket, there is no comparison. It has been proved, by CSK in 2018 IPL, age is not a factor in the T20 format. Yes, you get agility, energy, but it needs something more important, the experience of playing in different situations and calmness in facing them. Writing off experience will only harm Indian cricket. There has to be a mix of experience and youth for any World cup winning squad.