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New Delhi: India’s cricket calendar is already on the next page, with the two T20 Internationals against Ireland to pull the curtain up on their tour of the United Kingdom, which also sees the incomplete Test series being finished. While the Test side will see the return of the stalwarts in the form of skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, as also the bowling stars in Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammad Shami, as well as Rishabh Pant, behind the wickets, the real questions to be raised are about the T20 side, especially since this is where the biggest prize of the year – the World Cup – will be decided.
If some news reports are to be believed, then the same T20 side will also play the series against England. So, it means that those who have been left out of the Ireland squad will stay out. A very interesting turn of events, if true.
What this indicates that Pant, who was skipper for the South Africa series after KL Rahul was out with injury, will not see T20 action in England. Nor will Rohit Sharma, who not so long ago was named captain for all formats, or Kohli, who is still one of India’s premier batters, in any format.
So, is this the team for the future? One hesitates to say ‘yes’, since there is much time to go between now and the World Cup and the changes and permutations that the cricket board throws up often leave one wondering.
Can this team, without the likes of Bumrah or Shami, be the team for the World Cup? Doesn’t seem so. Irrespective of what form the Mumbai Indians superstar showed in the Indian Premier League, he remains India’s No. 1 fast bowler and it is inconceivable that they will go in without him. Shami, on his part, was member of the IPL-winning franchise, and was quite useful with the ball.
At the same time, the quiz also includes some interesting names – Rahul Tripathi, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh or Ravi Bishnoi. Of these four, only Avesh got match time against South Africa but all four are in the Ireland squad, and beyond, as per indications.
But at the same time, head coach Rahu, Dravid has been pretty clear in saying that the experimentation with new names will be a limited exercise. So, we can safely say very few of these are in the longer scheme of things, at least for now.
What of Sanju Samson? Is he going to be the eternal stand-by for Pant? Or does this wicketkeeper-batter have a bigger future?
Questions galore, and still no mention of the likes of Rahul Tewatia. The left-hander was on social media a while ago, and his post was quite clear in reflecting how disappointed he had been left.
But then, the IPL may soon be even bigger and donning the India colours, while important, may well be side-lined even more. Maybe Tewatia will have a future only in franchise cricket. Maybe they all will.
But, as of now, the questions about who plays for India in the World Cup stay open, and all of this squad in the United Kingdom will not be reflected there for sure.
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