IND vs SA T20Is: Five questions from India's squad for the T20I series versus South Africa
The five-match T20I series against South Africa in June presented the selectors an ideal opportunity to reshuffle and refine the side. Did they take it?
With another selection in Indian cricket following no press briefing or communication with media and fans known as a thing of healthy sporting cultures, we try to answer five major questions from India's squad picked on Sunday (May 22) for the five-match T20I series versus South Africa, running June 9-19.
Where are Shaw, Samson and Tripathi?
The absence of IPL's notable aggressor trio seems not as much a selection issue but a mentality one, for the selectors currently seem to be rewarding the runs rather than the role and the impact made in it. A mistake in T20 cricket.
All three players have been fantastic aggressors for their respective IPL sides, players who blast the opposition attacks and give their their teams the momentum and stronger footing into games in various stages. These players make maximum impact in the minimal balls they face.
While Shaw played this role stupendously inside the powerplay, Tripathi and Samson have left their imprint on games in the middle stage of the innings. Since the start of IPL 2020, Shaw has blasted his powerplay runs at a strike-rate of 152.84, while Tripathi and Samson have carried middle-over strike-rates of 146.40 and 154.49, respectively.
With India's T20I game often plagued by too many anchors, the presence of such quality aggressors in the side is expected to give it a definite edge. But the selectors seem stuck behind in their approach to the format, which reflects in their decision-making.
Have India moved on from Shikhar Dhawan?
It would've been interesting to see if KL Rahul, too, was rested for the series whether the selectors would've been keen to reinfuse Shikhar Dhawan in the T20I side. Dropped from India's main side last March after just one game in the England series and taken to Sri Lanka with the alternate side only to fill the experienced gap, Dhawan would have a few complaints with the selectors.
The left-hander, on whom India kept investing as a T20I player with multiple World Cup appearances when he wasn't perhaps upskilled for it, collected a whopping 1,205 runs from IPL 2020 and IPL 2021 with a healthier strike-rate of 134.18. But in reward, he got just a solitary T20I with the main side in the build-up to the T20 World Cup last year in UAE.
Playing his most recent Test in August 2018 and T20I in July last year, Dhawan seems pigeonholed as an ODI specialist, with the 36-year-old swimming through tough competition for slots to stay relevant to Indian cricket.
Why are Ishan Kishan and Venkatesh Iyer retained but not Sanju Samson?
Samson's misery and non-retention after his brief couple of innings in the T20I series versus Sri Lanka in March also attracts scrutiny on Ishan Kishan and Venkatesh Iyer, two players retained from the home season despite a poor IPL 2022.
In a tournament played on good batting tracks in Mumbai and Pune, Kishan and Venkatesh, both mainstays for their respective sides, struggled for any sort of flow and rhythm.
Kishan made 418 runs from 14 innings, which looks good on paper until one stresses on the fact that his runs came at a strike-rate of just 120.11 despite predominantly starting inside the powerplay. The left-hander struggled to spin and movement versus pace throughout the tournament, leaving genuine doubts over his range and skill.
The case was similar for Venkatesh, whom the selectors may have retained for encouragingly filling-in as a utility player versus West Indies and Sri Lanka, but he made just 182 runs from his 12 innings in the IPL with a horrible strike-rate of 107.69.
If a sense of patience was applied with Kishan and Venkatesh, why wasn't the same treatment handed out to Samson, who has struck his 374 runs at a strike-rate of 147.24?
Are India forming a threatening group of death bowlers?
With the inclusion of Arshdeep Singh to a set-up headed by Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, where Harshal Patel continues to flourish, India seem to be developing a mighty effective group of bowlers for the end-overs phase.
This has come about due to a timely revival of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and the rise of Patel and Singh as two notable forces in the shortest format. After a pair of difficult IPL seasons, Bhuvneshwar was back to his very best in IPL 2022, going for only 8.60 runs an over at the death.
Patel didn't have the best of seasons with the ball, having to overcome a personal loss in between. But his death-overs economy rate of 9.46 since IPL 2021 reflects on a bowler, who is taking his game to higher level with every opportunity.
Arshdeep Singh was perhaps the biggest positive for Indian cricket from this edition of the IPL. The young Punjab left-arm quick swung the new ball both ways with enhanced speed and control and nailed his yorkers consistently at the death. His 17-20 overs ER for IPL 2022 stood at a measly 7.58.
Did Kuldeep Yadav deserve a place?
Kuldeep Yadav is back in India's T20I plans after a season with Delhi Capitals (DC) where he consistently chipped away at the wickets column. Kuldeep finished with 21 wickets for the tournament from 14 matches. When a bowler takes a bagful of wickets, traditional logic implies that he will be in the reckoning for higher honour.
But T20 as a format is very different. While Kuldeep did take a lot of wickets for DC, the format commands that we look deeper and ask ourselves whether he made an impact for his side and if he was trying to buy wickets at the expense of his team?
In DC's first few games, Kuldeep showcased a lower, flatter and quicker trajectory as an encouraging sign of improvement in his T20 game. But soon, the wristspinner had a sad reversion to mean, as he went back to notoriously flighting it near the arc.
Kuldeep had an economy rate of 8.43 for the tournament and conceded 27 fours and 21 sixes, while delivering only 92 dot balls from nearly 50 overs worth of bowling.
Kuldeep Yadav is having a fine IPL season but his economy of 8.43 RPO is a bit on the higher side. His economy has been 8.75+ RPO in five out of 10 innings.
— Stat Doctor🩺 (@stat_doctor) May 8, 2022
He should consider bowling fewer loopy balls on the full-length.#CSKvDC | #IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/n4rKZ9CNMU