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Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a second-string India squad for the five-T20I series against Australia on November 20. Suryakumar Yadav was named captain in the absence of an injured Hardik Pandya. While there were no maiden call-ups, there were five players who missed out on the team bus as India are set to begin preparations for the T20 World Cup 2024.
Sanju Samson
Wicketkeeper-batter from Kerala, Sanju Samson has been in and out of the side several times now. When he got a chance, he has not been able to produce an outstanding performance to impress the selectors. Injuries have played a role in him missing important series. But his omission from the Asian Games 2023 squad indicated that he may not be in the scheme of things. The doubt was further clarified when he was not in the squad for the T20I series against Australia. The 29-year-old has scored 374 runs from 21 innings at an average of 19.68 including one half-century. He made his last T20I appearance against Ireland in August 2023 where he scored 40 runs from 26 balls.
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Yuzvendra Chahal
India’s leading wicket-taker in the format, Yuzvendra Chahal has run out of favours. Despite proving his worth in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 for Rajasthan Royals (RR), Chahal has not been a regular in the side. Eventually, Kuldeep Yadav was preferred over him in the white-ball formats. The leg-spinner made his last T20I appearance against West Indies in August 2023. He conceded 51 runs from four overs on Caribbean soil. Chahal has 96 wickets from 80 games including one fifer. His economy rate is 8.19 runs per over.
Riyan Parag
Riyan Parag could not justify his price tag in IPL 2023 but he has been sensational in domestic cricket. Playing for Assam, he scored a record-breaking seven half-centuries in a row in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023. He single-handedly led Assam to the semifinal of SMAT 2023. So far, he has scored 2,043 runs from 98 T20 appearances (domestic and IPL) at an average of 30.04 including 18 half-centuries. His strike rate is 142.17. He has 41 wickets as well and an economy rate of 7.22 runs per over.
Deepak Chahar
While Avesh Khan and Mukesh Kumar have been selected in the T20I squad, Deepak Chahar failed to find a place in the T20I squad after recovering from hamstring injury Deepak swings the new ball both ways and can trouble the batters in the powerplay overs. However, it has been a while since Chahar played a T20I. Against South Africa in October 2022, he made his last T20I appearance picking just one wicket while conceding 48 runs in his full quota of four overs. So far, he has taken 29 wickets from 24 T20Is including record-breaking figures of 6/7. His economy rate is 8.17 runs per over.
Umran Malik
At one point, Jammu & Kashmir pacer Umran Malik was considered as the next big thing. His trouble piqued the interest of many and many suggested that he should have been on the flight to Australia on the basis of sheer pace he generates to unsettle the batter. But Malik has been out of the spotlight for a while now. The main reason has been his economy rate which is 10.48 runs per over. He has played eight T20Is and taken 11 wickets. His last T20I appearance was against New Zealand in February 2023 where he took two wickets from 2.1 overs to help the side bowl out New Zealand for 66.
India’s T20I squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vc), Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dubey, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Shreyas Iyer (for last two T20Is)
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