The Indian national cricket team is eyeing a period of change with the ‘new normal’ forcing the board to send a team of white-ball specialist players to Sri Lanka.
Indian captain Virat Kohli, white-ball vice-captain Rohit Sharma, and a few all-format key players in Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, and KL Rahul are involved in a 100-day tour of England that includes the ICC World Test Championship final and a 5-test match series against England.
In the absence of the aforementioned players, the Indian contingent traveling to the neighboring island country will be captained by key opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan. Former skipper and current India A coach Rahul Dravid will be taking charge of the young squad that involves multiple promising uncapped players in Varun Chakravarthy, Nitish Rana, Devdutt Padikkal, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Chetan Sakariya.
Full squad: Shikhar Dhawan (C), Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan (Wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (Wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Vice-captain), Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya
Let’s have a look at the four players that could make a breakthrough in the 3-ODI series followed by the 3 T20I series.
#4 Ishan Kishan
Ishan Kishan celebrates half-century whilst representing India
Over the past couple of Indian Premier League seasons, Ishan Kishan has shown consistency for Mumbai Indians helping them win both the IPL trophies.
The 22-year old wicket-keeper batsman’s rise to the top has been long-awaited and the youngster’s performances on the upcoming tour could propel him into the discussion for the 2021 ICC World T-20.
Kishan made it to the Indian national team as a specialist opening batsman in the T20I series against England with Pant retaining the gloves behind the wicket. On his debut, the southpaw scored 56 runs off 32 balls but failed to get into double figures in the next match before being ruled out of the series due to a groin injury.
#3 Varun Chakravarthy
Varun Chakravarthy representing KKR in the IPL
The 29-year old spinner has been a late bloomer and broke out a couple of years ago for Kolkata Knight Riders but hasn’t made his debut for the national team yet.
The Men in Blue called up Chakravarthy initially after the 2020 IPL season but the mystery spinner was ruled out of the tour due to a shoulder injury days before the first match. Ahead of the England series, he was once again under contention to make the squad but was ruled out due to poor fitness.
UAE has been announced as the venue for the 2021 ICC World T20 and every KKR fan would remember Chakravarthy’s exploits in the middle east country enjoying his best season for the Knight Riders so far and would expect the same from the Tamil Nadu spinner.
#2 Prithvi Shaw
Prithvi Shaw celebrates half-century for Delhi Capitals
Like Chakravarthy, Shaw had to endure injury issues in the nascent stage of his career and recently came out of an unfortunate drugs scandal.
The Delhi Capitals batsman was one of the best batsmen in the 2020 IPL, the 2021 Vijay Hazare Trophy, and the 2021 IPL to rightfully earn his place as the first-choice opener along with skipper Dhawan.
The 21-year old opening batsman has played 5 Tests and 3 ODIs for the Men in Blue but is yet to make his T20I debut for the Indian national team. Shaw hasn’t played for India since the first test against Australia where the Mumbai batsman could only score a total of 4 runs in two innings.
#1 Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav in the Indian cricket team jersey
In the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, India’s top-order is the most affected with two of the best modern cricketers leaving a big void to fill for their deputies. Suryakumar Yadav will be tasked with batting maturely and responsibly along with younger batsmen in Shaw, Kishan, and Padikkal.
With India trailing England 2-1 in the five-match T20I series, Yadav was drafted in the playing XI in place of the injured Kishan. The Mumbai Indians player scored 57 runs off 31 balls on his debut after the opening pair of Sharma and KL Rahul failed to put on a big score and followed it up with a crucial quick knock of 32 runs off 17 balls in the next match.
The 30-year old batsman is set to make a debut in the ODI format as well with DC skipper Shreyas Iyer injured and ruled out for the Sri Lanka tour.