Amid the pink ball Test match hullabaloo, the BCCI senior selection committee, led by M.S.K. Prasad, will be meeting here to decide on the limited-overs squad for the series against the West Indies in December.
This Indian team management thrives on smart workload management. This time, Rohit Sharma is the talking point. Captain Virat Kohli has been rested twice in the calendar year with the Mumbai batsman leading the side.
We understand Rohit’s viewpoint will be taken on the matter.
Shikhar Dhawan’s form is a concern since his exit from the Cricket World Cup 2019 due to injury. He appeared in three ODIs against the West Indies scoring 36 and 2, while the first one was a washout. Against Bangladesh, he returned with 41, 31 and 19 in the three T20Is.
Read: Tendulkar, Gavaskar, Dravid to attend as Kolkata gears up for pink-ball Test
Mayank Agarwal’s name has been doing the rounds for white ball cricket, specially after two Test double hundreds in two months; stamping his authority as an attacking batsman even in red-ball cricket. “I am an aggressive batsman and I back myself if I feel the ball is in my half. If I think I can attack a bowler, definitely I will,” he said it straight in Indore.
Agarwal is 13 List A hundreds-old. He flaunts a handsome average of 50.90. In T20s, the right-hander strikes at nearly 132.
There could be a bit of heat for Rishabh Pant. His batting and shot selection has been under scanner for a while. And now, Kerala wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson is back in the spotlight after scoring a double hundred in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has resumed training and there will be a thin chance of him returning to the side.
Shivam Dube and Shardul Thakur will continue the pace duties. The five other seam bowlers are still nursing their injury. Bhuvneshwar Kumar trained with Team India in Indore but he is not fully fit yet. Jasprit Bumrah is still down with the lower back stress. Hardik Pandya has a stress fracture. Navdeep Saini has a groin issue.
At the moment, there is no such need to tinker with the spin combination but new players could be tested. Yuzvendra Chahal has been tight, and Washington Sundar just about fine. Rahul Chahar perhaps deserves another chance.
Deepak Chahar will lead the pace attack. Though Khaleel Ahmed didn’t reach the stars against Bangladesh but he needs to be groomed. Having a left-armer is an edge.
This is likely to be the last selection meeting chaired by the current crop of selectors which also comprises Jatin Paranjpe, Sarandeep Singh, Devang Gandhi and Gagan Khoda.
A new selection panel is likely to be formed post the BCCI AGM on December 1.
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