2020 Vision

derabad, December 5

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The likes of KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant will be aiming to cement their places in the squad as India continue auditions for next year’s T20 World Cup, taking on West Indies in a three-match T20 series starting here tomorrow.

With next year’s T20 World Cup less than 11 months away, players who are yet to cement their place in the squad will be keen to make a mark against West Indies. Among them is Rahul, who has been around for several years and is no longer a youngster. With the injured senior opener Shikhar Dhawan absent, Rahul gets a chance to secure his place as Rohit Sharma’s opening partner.

Another player who would like to answer his critics with solid performances is Pant. Pant has been criticised in recent times due to his inconsistent batting and poor shot selection, and also poor wicketkeeping.

Pant was seen as the successor to MS Dhoni, but after the World Cup this year, he has endured a slump in form and was heavily criticised for throwing his wicket away several times. He has got Test 100s in Australia and England, but due to his inadequate glovework, he was dropped from the Test team and Wriddhiman Saha brought back in.

Samson’s chance

With the selectors bringing in the talented Sanju Samson in the squad, Pant must perform or there is a chance that he could lose his place in the squad. This series is huge for Samson, too. Although he was named in the T20 squad against Bangladesh, the Kerala man didn’t get a single opportunity in that series and was picked up for the West Indies series only after Dhawan sustained a knee injury. In case Pant fails again, Samson could get the opportunity he so richly deserves. Virat Kohli, back to lead the side after taking a break in the T20 series against Bangladesh, would keep a close watch on both Pant and Samson.

Comeback men

On the bowling front, the likes of Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are returning to the T20 setup. The duo of Yadav and Chahal will reunite after a long time — Yadav last featured in the shortest format in February 2019 against New Zealand. The pace attack looks menacing with the return of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami. Shami is back in the T20I team after two years. Deepak Chahar, who did very well against Bangladesh, is expected to play a role alongside Shami and Bhuvneshwar.

Revenge on mind

West Indies would be looking for revenge after being dismantled 3-0 by India in their own backyard in August. They are the T20 world champions and can beat any team on their day. They are already acclimatised to the conditions in India, having played Afghanistan in a full series in Lucknow. Having been entrusted with captaincy, Kieron Pollard will look to lead from the front. With Nicholas Pooran ruled out of the first match because of a four-match ban for ball-tampering, the onus would be on Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons, Shimron Hetmyer to power their batting line-up.

The visitors have quite a few new faces in the team — such as Brandon King, Khary Pierre, Sherfane Rutherford, Keserick Williams and Hayden Walsh Jr. — PTI