My World Cup Squad | 2024 T20Is

My Playing XI

1. Rohith Sharma
2. Virat Kohli
3. Surya Kumar Yadav
4. Sanju Samson
5. Rinku Singh
6. Hardik Pandya
7. Axar Patel
8. Kuldeep Yadav
9. Jasprit Bumrah
10. Mayank Yadav
11. Mohsin Khan

Rest of the Squad

1. Yashasvi Jaiswal
2. Yuzvendra Chahal
3. Shivam Dube
4. Arshdeep Singh

Reserves

1. Mohamed Siraj 
2. Ravindra Jadeja 
3. Dinesh Karthick
4. Subhman Gill

Choice of Fast Bowlers

If this is one-day world cup or test-match squad, Bumrah, Shammi and Siraj are automatic picks. But T20s require different skillsets. Shammi is injured and does not boast great T20 record either. 

Bowlers	Inn	Balls	Runs	Eco	SR	Avg
Siraj (I)	10	228	334	8.78	19.0	27.83
Siraj (D)	126	2700	3741	8.31	18.3	25.44
Arshdeep (I)	44	899	1294	8.63	14.5	20.87
Arshdeep (D)	125	2619	3695	8.46	17.0	23.99
Avesh Khan (I)	19	398	618	9.31	20.9	32.52
Avesh Khan (D)	103	2220	3095	8.36	18.1	25.36
Shammi (I)	23	477	711	8.94	19.8	29.62
Shammi (D)	156	3363	4604	8.21	17.7	24.23
Mohsin (D)	48	1008	1198	7.13	15.0	17.88
Mayank Yadav (D)	12	228	241	6.34	12.6	13.38
Deepak Chahar (I)	25	540	747	8.30	17.4	24.09
Deepak Chahar (D)	143	3066	3985	7.79	18.4	24.00

*D - Domestic, *I - International

The above stats clearly indicate most of the Indian fast bowlers leak runs in T20 internationals. It is worth trying Mayank Yadav and Mohsin Khan. Mayank Yadav has history of injuries. But he has both speed and control. Most importantly he takes crucial wickets.

Choice of Wicket Keepers

Rishab Pant, Sanju Samson and Dinesh Karthick are primary contenders. Jitesh Sharma and Dhruv Jurel were contenders few weeks earlier, but their form and consistency is lacking. Rishab Pant T20 and one-day records are not as spectacular as Test cricket. He has limited range of scoring shots in shorter form of cricket. Sanju Samson has reasonably better ODI record. His international T20 records are not that great. But he seems to have improved. Then we have Dinesh Karthick. Based on team structure, I would prefer Samson.

All-Rounders

We need a fast bowling all-rounder at 6. Hardik Pandya is struggling with both bat and ball. We don't have too many options. Shivam Dube has not bowled much recently. But he pick himself as a batter. 

We need someone like Yuvaraj, Sachin or Shewag, who could bowl spin. But again, we don't have much options. Most of the current top-order batsmen are one-dimensional. We need spin-bowling all-rounder at 7, we have Jadeja. But his batting strike rate in T20s are not ideal. Axar Patel has better T20 credentials than Jadeja. I would pick Axar ahead of Jadeja.

My World Cup Squad | 2019

My XI

1. Rohit Sharma
2. S Dhawan
3. V Kohli
4. Shreyas Iyer
5. M S Dhoni
6. Kedar Jadhav
7. H Pandya
8. B Kumar
9. Y Chahal
10. Kuldeep Yadav
11. J Bumrah

Rest of the squad

1. M Sammi
2. Umesh Yadav
3. A Rayadu
4. Rishabh Pant

Reserves/Standby

1. A Rahane
2. R Jadeja
3. D Karthik
4. V Shankar
5. M Siraj / S Kaul / K Ahamed ?

Does backup fast bowling options look thin? 

Bumrah, Bhuvi, and Shammi pick themselves up. Rest of the fast bowling resources does not look promising as of now. For 4th fast bowling option in the squad, my choice would be Umesh Yadav purely for his experience over others.

Why Shreyas Iyer was not given enough chances compared to others?

Yuvraj Singh was our biggest match-winner. After his decline, many players were tried for the middle order positions: Rahane, Rayadu, KL Rahul, S Iyer, M Pandey, etc. To be fair Rayadu did well in the opportunities given to him. He is considered to be a slow-mover in the field. Whether he can come good in difficult conditions? KL Rahul was promoted as the next big thing. But the performance column does not look good despite some handsome performances initially. We all know about Rahane's class. But he was considered to be struggling in slower-pitches. Then there is a question: What is his suitable batting position? He himself needs to partially blamed for his fall.

SS Iyer had some good scores in India 'A' tours and domestic circuit. My choice for No.4 would be SS Iyer. 

All Rounders & Additional Bowling Options

The problem with the current Indian team is that no top order batsman can bowl a few overs except K Jadhav. Earlier we used to have Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvi, Ganguly bowling few overs regularly. A lot of current players are either one-dimensional or bits and pieces players like V Shankar, K Pandya etc. Hardik Pandya is an interesting case. At least in shorter versions, he can be a close to a genuine all-rounder.  Whether he will be fit enough and last the entire World Cup tournament. Even if he is fit, whether he will be consistent with bat and ball. V Shankar in his limited opportunities looks decent with bat and a good fielder. As of now, most of us are sceptical about his bowling despite his last over heroics against Australia in the recently concluded one-day series. And there are better batsmen available than him and so he can't be picked as a specialist batsman.