India will play Pakistan in their opening game of the T20 World Cup 2021 on Oct 24.
There were a few surprises in the India squad as it saw the return of off-spinner R Ashwin in the white-ball plans, while Akshar Patel was also included in the main squad. Mumbai batsman Shreyas Iyer was expected to make the 15-member squad but was instead named in the reserve players.
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While some of the players saw their dream come true of participating in an ICC event while playing for India, there were some players who were not included, even in the reserve players which surprised not only the Indian fans but cricket experts as well.
TEAM COC takes a look at five such players who were unlucky to make the cut in the main Team India squad for the T20 World Cup 2021.
(Note: Teams are allowed to make changes to their squad till October 10, without injuries)
MOHAMMED SIRAJ
He has played one ODI going wicketless for 76 runs against Australia and 3 T20Is, picking a total of 3 wickets at an economy rate of 12.33.
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However, he has been a consistent player for Sunrisers Hyderabad and most currently for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Though his numbers read 45 wickets in 42 IPL matches at an economy of 8.77, he has 17 wickets in 16 IPL matches for RCB in the last two seasons, including the first half of IPL 2021.
Siraj’s exclusion can be termed unlucky as he plays for RCB which is captained by Virat Kohli, who has seen him from close quarters and might have had a discussion over him as a potential fast bowling option for the T20 World Cup 2021.
PRITHVI SHAW
He then transitioned well into Test cricket, scoring a century on Test debut against West Indies. However, fitness and attitude issues led to him falling down the pecking order for openers. He did make a comeback in New Zealand in 2020 and was featured on the tour of Australia in 2020-21, but terrible performance in the Adelaide day-night Test led to him being dropped for good.
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However, Shaw’s exploits in limited-overs domestic brought him back into contention and his performances in the IPL have been enough for people to notice him. He also scored 227* in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the highest by an Indian in the format.
He has played 6 ODIs, scoring 189 runs and one T20I in which he was out for a first-ball duck.
However, in the IPL, Shaw has 1134 runs in 46 matches with 9 half-centuries at a strike rate of 146.13, enough for him to be in consideration for the openers slot for the T20 World Cup.
Unfortunately, he was up against the likes of KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, and with Virat Kohli also showing an inclination to open, there just was no spot for him in the squad.
T NATARAJAN
Currently in UAE with his IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad in preparation for the resumption of IPL 2021, Natarajan has impressed so far while playing for India as he has 13 wickets in 7 international matches.
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He has impressive figures in the Indian Premier League as well with 16 wickets in IPL 2020, which led to his selection in the India T20I team for the Australia series. He was supposed to be the front-runner for the left-arm seamer option in the T20 World Cup 2021 squad.
But an injury to his knee which bothered him during the first half of the IPL 2021, which required surgery, ruled him out for six months, and with no cricket behind him to show the selectors he had healed well, Natarajan missed the bus for the T20 World Cup 2021 Indian squad.
SHIKHAR DHAWAN
Dhawan has played in previous editions of the T20 World Cup, notably the 2016 edition which was held in India. He has a decent record in the format, with 1759 runs in 68 T20Is for India with the best score of 92 and a strike rate of 126.36.
In IPL as well, he had his best season in 2020 scoring two centuries and a total of 618 runs, leading the Delhi Capitals to the final of the tournament. Overall he has 5577 runs in 184 IPL matches at a strike rate of 127.35.
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He was deemed a slow starter in the 20-over format and with the rise of Ishan Kishan in the format, selectors picked the young Jharkhand batsman over Dhawan as the third opener in the T20 World Cup 2021 squad, as he doubles up as a backup wicketkeeper to Rishabh Pant as well.
Shikhar Dhawan’s tendency to start slowly went against him as the T20s have evolved, the openers have started scoring runs at a freakish rate as well and Dhawan’s gameplay of holding one end probably didn’t fit the vision of BCCI selectors.
YUZVENDRA CHAHAL
However, as IPL threw up the likes of Rahul Chahar and Varun Chakravarthy, who were the new breed of spinners, Chahal found it difficult to perform and pick wickets on a consistent basis.
As chief selector Chetan Sharma explained, they needed a leg-spinner who could bowl at a faster pace, Rahul Chahar fit the bill and hence was picked over Chahal, whose bowling speeds have come under criticism as he copped some punishment in recent matches.
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His T20I economy is 8.32 while picking 63 wickets in 49 matches for India, while in the IPL, he has 125 wickets at an economy of 7.70. His loss of form over time had also meant that Chahal was benched for some extended period of time as Ravindra Jadeja made his way back into the team from 2018 onwards.
The decision might not be that favorable from the fans’ point of view and even some of the cricket experts debated on it, Chahal’s exclusion from the T20 World Cup 2021 India squad is definitely an unlucky one.