India stick to tried and tested

Sabi Hussain

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, FEBRUARY 5

When the selectors named India’s 15-man squad for the World Twenty20 on Friday, two things signified their approach — stability and continuity. The idea was to not tinker with the composition that contributed to India’s 3-0 sweep of Australia in the recent T20 series.

The selectors, picking the same squad for both the Asia Cup and the World T20, retained the comeback trio of Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra and Harbhajan Singh. They also retained youngsters Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya, who are also part of the squad for the T20 series against Sri Lanka.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin were automatic choices.

Rahane over Pandey

Their one point of debate would have been over the inclusion of either Ajinkya Rahane or Manish Pandey in the middle-order. Pandey, who struck a match-winning ODI century against Australia in Sydney, is Kohli’s replacement for the Lanka series and his name figured prominently in the discussion for the World Cup. It was clear that Pandey would have to make way for Kohli after the latter returned from his break.

The selectors finally opted for Rahane over Pandey. Rahane’s adaptability was a factor — he can be the back-up opener and is also comfortable in the middle-order. 

Similarly, Mohammed Shami was preferred to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who had a forgettable outing in Australia. But Shami’s inclusion is a calculated risk — he has still not proved his match fitness after suffering a hamstring injury before the start of the ODI series in Australia. His last international outing was during the World Cup in 2015. His knee injury has forced him out of international action for nearly a year.

Shami has a couple of weeks to get match fit before the Asia Cup, which begins on February 24. 

Chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil said that the Bengal fast bowler has been picked subject to his being fit. If he fails to recover, India would be allowed to name a replacement.

“Shami has 30 days before the World T20. We have good time in our hand to take a call on Shami. For now, I can only say that he has recovered and started bowling,” Patil said.

Negi surprise package

The one surprise inclusion in the World Cup squad was uncapped young allrounder Pawan Negi. The selectors said he’s been rewarded for his consistent performance in the domestic circuit. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the Delhi allrounder took six wickets and scored173 runs with a strike-rate of 173.

Negi, who bowls left-arm spin and is a handy lower-order batsman, was part of the suspended Chennai Super Kings team in the IPL.

“When selectors pick a team, we always give importance to domestic performance. It is not that we are only looking at seniors, we have looked at the performance, fitness and record of the domestic players as well. It’s not about just 15-16 guys, but all the domestic players. Negi is part of the Sri Lanka series and we have faith in his abilities,” Patil said. 

Patil said the team management had done its share of experimentation during the Australia tour.

“We experimented during Australia and discussed which players would be good for replacements. In the shorter format, horses for courses has worked,” he said.

Mann, Dhawan out

From the squad that toured Australia, Rishi Dhawan, Gurkeerat Singh Mann and Umesh Yadav have not been recalled. The selectors also named the women’s squad for the World T20, which will start on March 15. The selectors retained the squad that won the T20 series against Australia by a 2-1 margin.

World T20 and Asia Cup squads 

Men: MS Dhoni (c) , Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja , Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra, Pawan Negi (in pic) and Mohammed Shami.

Women’s World T20: Mithali Raj (c), Jhulan Goswami, Smriti Mandhana, Veda Krishnamurthy, Harmanpreet Kaur, Shikha Pandey, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Sushma Verma, Poonam Yadav, V Vanitha, Anuja Patil, Ekta Bisht, Thirush Kamini, Deepti Sharma, Niranjana Nagarajan.