3 T20I players who should not be part of Team India's ODI squad
Team India have come under a heap of criticism for "mixing formats" of late. The Men in Blue have often appeared to confuse the formats certain players are most suited to, leading to a plethora of form and selection concerns.
All-format players are quickly becoming a thing of the past, and India need to move towards a specific set of personnel for each format. This has become even more important in 2023, with the ODI World Cup all set to take place. The team management needs to be careful not to pick certain names in the 50-over side based on their returns in the shortest format.
Here are three T20I players who should not be part of Team India's ODI squad.
#3 Rahul Tripathi
Rahul Tripathi has been in and around the Indian ODI side for a few series now, with many fans questioning why he's being picked for the 50-over format. He isn't part of the ongoing series against Sri Lanka and should ideally only represent the Men in Blue in T20Is.
Tripathi has a disappointing List A average of 37.91, and while his strike rate of 88.17 might be what India need in the format, he has managed only four hundreds in his career. The batter is also on the wrong side of 30, and India would be wise to move towards players like Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill and Sanju Samson.
Tripathi had an excellent campaign in the 2022-23 Vijay Hazare Trophy, making 524 runs in eight matches with three hundreds and two fifties. So there might still be some hope of him cracking the ODI code, but as of now he shouldn't be ahead of the aforementioned names in the pecking order.
#2 Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Bhuvneshwar Kumar doesn't have a great ODI record, with 141 wickets from 121 matches at an average of 35.11 and an economy rate of 5.08. But he has played seven matches in the format over the last two calendar years, with his last appearance coming against South Africa in January 2022.
In the lead-up to the 2023 World Cup, there has been some chatter about bringing Bhuvneshwar back into the ODI fold. Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna are struggling with injuries, while Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur have fallen out of favor somewhat. India might be able to use his swing threat in the powerplay and he might even add some batting depth at Nos. 8 and 9.
However, it would be silly to entertain thoughts of playing Bhuvneshwar in a home World Cup as he offers nothing with the older ball. His fitness is also a concern, and he has gone wicketless (while being very expensive) in five of his last 10 ODIs. The pacer should stick to the shortest format for now.
#1 Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav is the only player on this list to be part of Team India's squad for the ongoing ODI series against Sri Lanka. He understandably hasn't made the playing XI, though, with the Men in Blue sticking to their tried-and-tested performers.
Suryakumar made a positive start to his ODI career, but his returns have dwindled since. The batter has recorded four single-digit scores in his last five innings and has only two half-centuries in 16 innings. SKY currently averages 32 at a strike rate of 100.52 over his career, numbers that pale in comparison to his T20I stats.
Shreyas Iyer is clearly ahead of Suryakumar in the ODI pecking order, while others like Gaikwad, Gill, Kishan and Samson are in contention as well. He's the best T20I batter in the world, and while there's definitely a chance of him replicating that form in the longer format, it might not be prudent to have him in the ODI squad as of now.