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The Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) was a good opportunity for Team India cricketers as well as players from other nations to strengthen their claims for a place in the 2021 T20 World Cup.
While the first half of the tournament went smoothly, with 29 matches being completed, the T20 league had to be halted after COVID-19 gatecrashed the bio-bubble.
However, Team India did get a decent glimpse of a few players could make the cut for the 2021 World Cup, scheduled to be held in India in October-November.
With IPL 2021 indefinitely postponed, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly recently announced that a second-string Team India squad (the main squad would be in England for Tests) will tour Sri Lanka in July for a limited-overs series. The side will play three ODIs and as many T20Is in the build-up to the T20 World Cup.
Team India’s strongest possible XI for T20 World Cup
As Team India prepares for the T20 World Cup challenge later in the year, we have put together an XI that we feel is the strongest to represent the nation in the mega event.
Openers
#1 Rohit Sharma
His Test legacy may still be unclear, but it is no secret that Rohit Sharma is a legend in the limited-overs formats. He has scored runs all over the world in all kinds of conditions in T20Is.
His record for Team India in the shortest version of the game speaks for itself. In 111 T20Is, Rohit has smashed 2864 runs at a strike rate of 138.96, with four hundreds and 22 fifties. Team India will want him to be on top of his game in the T20 World Cup.
#2 KL Rahul
This is an extremely tough call. Shikhar Dhawan put up an amazing show with the bat in the truncated IPL 2021. He made a conscious effort to lift his strike rate, an aspect of his game in T20s that he has been called out for.
However, it is a known fact that unless there is an injury, only one of KL Rahul and Dhawan can feature in the T20I playing XI. Neither deserves to be dropped on current form. However, Rahul has a much superior T20I record for Team India in comparison to Dhawan. As such, he has a slight edge when it comes to the starting XI.
Middle-order
#3 Virat Kohli
Team India captain Virat Kohli proclaimed after one good match against England that he would open the innings in the IPL as well. Unlike in the 2016 edition, when he was in supreme touch, Kohli could not make much of an impression at the top of the order for RCB. Except for the one game against Rajasthan Royals (RR), in which Devdutt Padikkal went berserk, Kohli was rather subdued.
He should stick to the No. 3 spot for Team India, a position from where he has played numerous match-winning knocks.
#4 Shreyas Iyer
Before the England series, Shreyas Iyer might not have made the cut. However, he was brilliant for Team India in the T20Is against the Englishmen at home.
Iyer displayed his wide range of strokes and played a couple of blazing knocks, which strengthened his claim for the crucial No. 4 slot. Having undergone shoulder surgery, he is expected to recover in time for the T20 World Cup.
#5 Rishabh Pant
If he performs to potential, maverick wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant could be Team India’s consistent match-winner in the T20 World Cup.
Pant is audacious, but he has the talent and, more importantly, the confidence to pull off incredible things. Over the past few months, the world has witnessed the best of Pant with the bat. Can he lift his game further for Team India in the T20 World Cup?
All-rounders
#6 Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya’s Test career may be under a cloud. However, he remains one of Team India’s biggest match-winners in the limited-overs formats.
Pandya displayed excellent form in Australia, where he played as a pure batsman. Although he was troubled by the England pacers' short ball at home recently, he worked a way out to score runs after his initial struggles. Having been dropped from the Test team, Pandya will be keen to prove his worth to Team India in the T20 World Cup.
#7 Ravindra Jadeja
The X-factor in Team India, Ravindra Jadeja has lifted his performance to an altogether different scale in the last couple of seasons. He has played blinders with the bat, produced unplayable deliveries with his left-arm spin and punished batsmen who have taken on his arm in the field. He has also taken some incredible catches.
Bowlers
#8 Axar Patel
On paper, playing two left-arm spinners in an XI might be against the logic of variety in a bowling attack. However, Axar Patel has proved in the IPL that he can keep things extremely tight with his accurate bowling. At the same time, he also has the ability to pick wickets.
Washington Sundar has done a reasonable job for Team India in T20Is, but he lacks wicket-taking ability. Yuzvendra Chahal is also a shadow of the match-winner he once was. Team India must thus exploit Axar’s talent to the hilt.
#9 Shardul Thakur
Team India pacer Shardul Thakur had a torrid time for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the first half of IPL 2021. He was all over the place with his line and length and was punished brutally.
In the series against England prior to the IPL though, Thakur was one of the standout performers for Team India. His variations and smart thinking won the team a number of games.
Thakur has the tendency to concede a few runs, but as long as he is picking up wickets, he should be in the playing XI in the T20 World Cup.
#10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Bhuvneshwar Kumar may not be in Team India’s Test squad for the England tour. However, he will be one of the key performers with the ball for the team in the T20 World Cup.
Kumar’s experience came to the fore on his comeback to the side during the limited-overs leg of the home series against England. He kept his calm and claimed wickets at crucial intervals, swinging the momentum of a couple of matches.
#11 Jasprit Bumrah
Unless there are fitness concerns, Jasprit Bumrah should be Team India’s pace spearhead at the T20 World Cup. He is a proven performer across formats. Even as Mumbai Indians (MI) displayed some inconsistency during IPL 2021, Bumrah was at his best, except for the high-scoring game against CSK, in which most bowlers went for plenty. His yorkers and slower balls are expected to unsettle opponents in the T20 World Cup.
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