As India tours Australia, with the first T20I on Wednesday, Sportstar takes a look at some young Indian players who would have a chance to impress against the Baggy Greens.
The left-arm seamer from Tonk earned a national call-up before the Asia Cup. The U-19 World Cup winner bowled consistently around 140kmph in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and grabbed 17 wickets. Khaleel, who comes from the Rahul Dravid school of coaching, returned with figures of three for 13 in the fourth ODI against West Indies at Brabourne Stadium.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's absence could see Rishabh Pant don the gloves in Australia. With the World Cup only six months away, this would be a good opportunity for him to cement his place in the side. He recently helped India cruise to a victory against West Indies in the final T20I when he scored 58 off 38 deliveries in Chennai.
The 23-year-old is an attacking top-order batsman with an average of 42 in ODIs. The Mumbaikar who received a national call-up in 2017 repaid the faith of the selectors when he scored a match-winning 88 against Sri Lanka in Mohali.
The bowling all-rounder from Tamil Nadu caught the eye when he was picked to replace Ravichandran Ashwin at the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant in the IPL 2017 season. He has played six T20Is for India and has a bowling average of 16.90, with best figures of three for 22.
Prithvi Shaw shot to fame as a 14-year-old when he scored 546 off 330 balls for his school Rizvi Springfield in the Harris Shield tournament. Handed a Test debut against West Indies in Rajkot, he slammed a 99-ball century on Day 1. With this blazing knock, he became the youngest Indian after Sachin Tendulkar to score a Test century. Now, he has a chance to prove his mettle against the Australian pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins.
Earlier this year, Hanuma Vihari, 25, was rewarded for his consistent performances in the domestic circuit with a call-up to the Indian Test side. The middle-order batsman scored 56 on debut at The Oval and took three wickets. He would be eager to string together performances to be in the reckoning.
Hardik Pandya's elder brother Krunal Pandya got his maiden call-up to the national squad for the T20Is against West Indies. He justified his inclusion with a superlative performance in the first game in Kolkata, where he played a crucial hand when India was in a spot of bother in a chase of 110. He scored an unbeaten 21 off nine balls, taking India home along with Dinesh Karthik. He will bank on his IPL experience of high-pressure situations to deliver in Australia.
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