3 Indians to watch out for in the England T20Is
After clinching the Test series and securing a spot in the World Test Championship finals, Team India are set to play a five-match T20I series against England in Ahmedabad. The series - which is likely to be among India's last three T20I series before the T20 World Cup 2021 - is key to their preparation for the marquee event.
The move to pick Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan could prove to be a step in the right direction. Spin-bowling all-rounders Axar Patel and Rahul Tewatia were also picked, thanks to a combination of their recent performances and Ravindra Jadeja's absence due to injury. Jasprit Bumrah is rested while Bhuvneshwar Kumar makes a return to the national side.
The visitors have named a full-strength squad for the T20I series and the contest is expected to be a cracker. The last time Eoin Morgan's men played a T20I series against India, they suffered a 1-2 loss; however, they haven't lost a series since then.
India have also had good returns in the shortest format in recent years. Since 2018, their win-loss ratio (2.5) in T20Is is the best among teams who have played more than 20 games.
IND v ENG T20Is: 3 Indians to watch out for
As of now, India have a couple of spots to finalise in the middle-order and would want to strengthen their pace attack. And players who perform in the aforementioned roles will be in the spotlight during the upcoming series.
1. Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant is the man of the moment. The youngster has been in great form of late and the team management would want him to stake a claim for his spot in the T20I side. The southpaw's game is very well suited to the shortest format and he can be a great asset to the team without a shadow of a doubt.
However, Pant's returns in international T20 cricket, particularly in India, have been poor. While in the IPL games held in India, the Delhi Capitals' batsman has very good numbers, his T20I numbers have been far from impressive.
Apart from the low sample-size in T20Is, India's strong and consistent top-order is one of the reasons behind his numbers not looking as good as they should. Pant has made his way out to the crease quite late in the innings more often than not. On the other hand, in the IPL, he tends to play a lot more overs allowing him time to score more runs.
However, this doesn't mean that Pant can get away with failures regularly because of his role. There is no doubt that Pant is also responsible for his failures.
The team management should be patient with the Delhi lad, who is capable of performing that role well. However, the top-order batsmen should be a touch more attacking, particularly in the powerplay.
Pant can play shots all around the ground and is quite powerful. The 23-year-old can be an excellent aggressor in the middle-overs. He can bash leg-spinners efficiently, while many Indian batsmen struggle against leggies.
Hence, Pant, with his skill-set against spinners, adds value to the Indian side. In the upcoming T20 series, his battle against Adil Rashid will be very interesting.
2. Navdeep Saini
Despite his mediocre show in recent times, Navdeep Saini has retained his place in the T20I side. Barring some games during IPL 2020, Saini has been quite poor since the tournament in the UAE. During this bad phase, especially in Australia, his bowling was missing control. Fitness issues didn't help him either, of course.
Due to Jasprit Bumrah's absence in the series, the focus will mostly be on T Natarajan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. However, Saini is also one to watch out for.
The express pacer might be a vital cog in India's limited-overs set up. He can also be used as a middle-overs enforcer to outfox batsmen who are good against spin but not necessarily so against quality pacers.
Besides middle-overs, Saini can also come good in other phases of the game. Against Mumbai Indians in IPL 2020, he was quite good in the Super Over. He has also displayed his skills in the death-overs on several other occasions.
Saini's T20I returns have also been quite good as well. In three out of four T20I series, he has been top-notch. Overall, in his 10-match T20I career, the 28-year-old averages 18.07 with an economy of about 7.
In the T20I series versus England, Saini can be useful against Eoin Morgan, Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow, given the team management plans well for these players.
3. Suryakumar Yadav
When Suryakumar Yadav played a match-winning knock against RCB in the IPL last year, Ravi Shastri tweeted "Stay strong and patient", acknowledging the efforts of the Mumbai batsman. Yadav's time has finally come as he has earned his maiden call-up for the senior side.
There is no doubt regarding the 30-year-old's recent performances in domestic cricket. He has performed superbly in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the IPL in recent times.
The Indian team management could go with the Mumbai Indians batter at No. 4 (and Pant at No. 5) ahead of Shreyas Iyer. The right-handed batsman is a skilful player of spin-bowling, and this will hold him in good stead as well, given the potential battle with Adil Rashid.
However, his strike rates against spinners during the IPL 2018 and 2019 seasons weren't really the best. Sky, as he is fondly known, turned the tables in IPL 2020, upping his scoring rate against spinners.
His range against slow bowlers is quite exquisite. The Mumbai Indians number 3 is a fine boundary-hitter as well as a good rotator of strike against spinners. Yadav's batting against pacers, in the powerplay and in general, is also quite useful.
Although SKY, as he is known, might be limited by good pace and great planning, he deserves a go, considering the T20 World Cup is in India.
He has performed the role of a middle-order batsman well enough in domestic cricket for quite some time. Thus, he is familiar with that role and could be trusted to deliver at the highest level.