Five players who should be on the waiting list of the Indian team
After a disappointing exit for the Indian team in the semi-final of the World Cup, the focus now shifts to the next series which is against the West Indies. There are quite a few things to look forward to in the upcoming series in the Caribbean. India will look to build their final combination for the T20 World Cup which is going to take place next year.
On the other hand, the World Test Championship starts with the two Tests against the Windies. India are No.1 in the Test rankings and would look to perform well in the championship to seal their status as the best Test team around.
Squads of all the three formats were announced a few days ago and there were some surprises. Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah are rested whereas MS Dhoni isn’t available. Khaleel Ahmed and Navdeep Saini got call-ups and Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey too were picked as batsmen.
Wriddhiman Saha will make a comeback after quite some time in the longest format. Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have either been dropped or rested from the T20I squad but the reason for their omissions has not been mentioned.
There are quite a few players who missed out on the selection but could be on the cusp of the India team based on their recent performances. Here is the list of five such players.
#5. Srikar Bharat
The chairman of selectors MSK Prasad, while announcing the squads, mentioned that Kona Srikar Bharat, the wicket-keeper batsman from Andhra, was very close to getting a call-up. Instead of picking him, the selectors went ahead with Wriddhiman Saha which is fair enough considering that he was the first-choice wicket-keeper before getting injured.
Having said that, Bharat has been brilliant for India A. Since July 2018, he has scored 686 runs at an average of 56.16 with three hundreds and two half-centuries. He has 41 catches and six stumpings to his name.
In his last first-class season, he scored 829 runs at an average of 43.63 with three centuries and three half-centuries. He has been consistent with the bat and assured behind the stumps as well. At the moment the selectors have gone safe by picking Saha but it won’t be a surprise if Bharat is picked for India in the near future.