T20 World Cup: Gaps that Team India will be looking to fill before squad announcement

The attention of the cricket fraternity will briefly shift to the T20 World Cup from the Indian Premier League (IPL) and other bilateral assignments such as Pakistan vs New Zealand, with ICC’s deadline for announcing the squads of all participating teams just around the corner.

The ninth edition of the 20-over mega event is set to begin on 1 June, five days after the conclusion of the ongoing IPL, and the ICC has set 1 May as the deadline, exactly a month before USA face Canada in the tournament opener.

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There is no dearth of talking points as far as the Indian team is concerned. While a number of players walk into the XI including captain Rohit Sharma, fellow batting superstar Virat Kohli, T20I vice-captain Suryakumar Yadav and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, there are several contenders for each of the remaining slots, from top and middle order-batters to pace and spin bowlers to all-rounders as well as the wicketkeeper’s slot.

With a couple of days to go for the announcement of India’s squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup, we take a look at some of the gaps that the Ajit Agarkar-led BCCI senior men’ selection committee will be looking to fill when they sit to finalise their final 15:

Bumrah’s pace support

While there aren’t any doubts over Jasprit Bumrah’s place in the squad, or the XI for that matter, given his status as one of the top bowlers of this era and arguably the best all-formats bowler at present, it is the rest of the pace department that will have the Men in Blue a little worried.

Mohammed Siraj has looked off-colour in recent assignments, both at the international level as well as in the IPL. Arshdeep Singh brings in variety as a left-arm quick and can get the ball to swing as well, but has a tendency to leak runs, especially in the death overs.

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Deepak Chahar had been considered a certainty for the T20 format at one point, especially as a powerplay specialist, but the Chennai Super Kings pacer hasn’t been quite as consistent of late and has also had issues with his fitness. While Mukesh Kumar has been impressive in the IPL but his T20I average and economy of 34.33 and 9.39 might stick out like a sore thumb.

Other pacers who have impressed in the ongoing IPL are Sandeep Sharma and T Natarajan, who haven’t been regulars at the international level of late.

Seam-bowling all-rounder

India have world-class options in the spin-bowling all-rounders department in Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. As for the seam-bowling all-rounders, India are likely to go with either Hardik Pandya or Shivam Dube. Or both, depending on what skipper Rohit, head coach Rahul Dravid and chief selector Agarkar have in mind.

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Neither Pandya nor Dube, however, have been too effective as a bowler in the IPL so far. Pandya has collected four wickets this season at an average of 56.75 and an economy of 11.95, going for 41 runs in two overs against Delhi Capitals on Saturday. Dube, meanwhile, has not been utilised for his seam-bowling skills at all by defending champions CSK this season.

Both Pandya and Dube are vital cogs in the middle-order, the ability to support the pace bowlers while also contributing with the bat can be crucial for teams, especially in events such as these.

Lack of a wrist-spin-bowling all-rounder

While India do have quality spin-bowling all-rounders in Jadeja and Axar, they’re both finger spinners, and the lack of a wrist-spin-bowling all-rounder is something that the Indian team might miss heading into the T20 World Cup.

Wrist-spinners generally are said to be in greater demand in the white-ball formats and aren’t as dependent on conditions as their finger-spin-bowling counterparts. And to be able to deliver with the bat while mastering wrist spin is something that stands out in the limited-overs formats, especially in T20 cricket. Part of the reason why there is so much star power associated with the likes of Rashid Khan and Wanindu Hasaranga.

Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravi Bishnoi can swing the bat, but haven’t really made the kind of impact with the bat for them to be considered an all-rounder.

Rohit’s opening partner

The slot in the Indian team that has generated the most intense of debates ahead of the T20 World Cup is that of Rohit’s opening partner. While India are overcrowded when it comes to top-order options, with the likes of Shubman Gill facing the likelihood of missing the flight to the United States despite his calibre, the balance of the Indian team will greatly depend on whom they choose for the second opener’s slot.

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Kohli has been as much a superstar in the T20 format as he has in ODIs and Tests, but his strike rate in recent outings has been a bit of a concern even if the former India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru strongly disagrees with the notion. Then there’s Yashasvi Jaiswal, a specialist opener who has been having a red-hot run in red and white-ball cricket alike.

Having Kohli as opener, however, opens up the possibility for the Indian team to include more in-form options in the middle order, including two tried-and-tested finishers in Dube and Rinku Singh.