The young Indian brigade played fearlessly to script a convincing 4-1 series victory against Australia. Their performances have raised some interesting questions for the team management and selectors, ahead of the South Africa tour and the ICC T20 World Cup
India's resounding 4-1 victory over Australia in the home T20I series helped partly heal fans' wounds, left by the gutting loss in the final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. But it also provoked thought and raised some interesting questions about the way ahead for the India T20I side, what with the South Africa tour around the corner and the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 lined up in June. (Cricket News)
The young brigade played fearlessly and without the baggage of their senior colleagues' disappointment at the hands of the same nation. They were tested from time to time, most prominently by the familiar hard-hitting wrath of Glenn Maxwell - who hit a record-equalling century to pull one back for the visitors. But the Suryakumar Yadav-led Men In Blue surmounted the challenges and came up comfortably trumps.
The performances from a bunch of youngsters would have given selectors and the team management some serious food for thought. The fact that the T20I squad for South Africa was announced in the middle of the India vs Australia series wasn't ideal either, as someone like Axar Patel showed what the think-tank missed out on with back-to-back strong displays.
Let us look at the three critical lessons we have learnt from India's comprehensive 4-1 series win, in the run-up to the South Africa sojourn and the 20-over World Cup.
Opening Tussle To Intensify
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad both fired big time in the five-match series. While Gaikwad was the highest run-getter from either side with an aggregate of 223 runs (average of 55.75) and a glittering unbeaten century, Jaiswal played several high-impact knocks, as reflected by his splendid strike rate of 168.29.
With Shubman Gill making his T20 chops clear in the Indian Premier League and a destructive Rohit Sharma also around, the fight for the two opening slots is set to intsensify. Rohit has been rested for the South Africa T20Is but reportedly asked selectors to "tell him now" whether he is in the scheme of things for the T20 World Cup, pointing to a four-way battle in the lead-up to the World Cup.
Hard To Keep Out Rinku Singh
Few Indian cricketers' stories have been more heartwarming than that of Rinku Singh in the recent past. The 26-year-old has defied socio-economic adversities to emerge as a bonafide star for the Men In Blue. He has played the role of finisher to perfection in T20Is, dealing the big blows with alarming regularity for opposition bowlers.
Rinku finished the series with a strike rate of 175 and played telling cameos almost every time he batted to elevate India's totals when batting first or guide them home when batting second. Given his consistency, it will be hard to keep out Rinku from the playing XI, come the World Cup.
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But will a slot actually open out for him? Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer and Hardik Pandya (if he regains fitness by then) are almost certain to walk into the middle order, and whether or not senior pro Virat Kohli will be drafted in is still not known. In such a scenario, the selectors are left with a Hobson's choice: should they play Rinku and drop a core senior player or ignore the southpaw's match-winning show?
Problem Of Plenty In Spin Department
As mentioned before, Axar shone bright in the last two T20Is for India. But leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi was the real star, as he ended up with nine wickets and the Player Of The Series award to boot. What's more, his relentless menace in the shortest format has elevated Bishnoi to the world number 1 spot in the latest ICC T20I Rankings.
But him and Axar are not the only two spinners in contention for a place in the World Cup squad. Ravindra Jadeja is expected to waltz back into the XI after a well-deserved rest, and an in-form Kuldeep Yadav, who did really well in the 50-over World Cup recently, is also waiting in the wings. On top of that, another leggie, Yuzvendra Chahal, has not found favour with the selectors despite a lot of success in the IPL. Throw in off-spin all-rounder Washington Sundar and you have a deadly medley - a clear problem of plenty for the decision makers.