ICC T20 rankings: Tilak breaks into top-10; Pandya reclaims No.1 all-rounder’s spot
It is Pandya’s second time at the top of this list this year, the first time following India’s T20 World Cup victory in the USA and West Indies.
The Indian men’s cricket squad for the upcoming three-match Twenty 20 International (T20I) series against Bangladesh will be announced on Thursday and if reports are to be believed skipper Virat Kohli is likely to be rested.
Except for the T20Is and the last two One Day Internationals (ODIs) against New Zealand, Kohli has played non-stop cricket this year. In India’s 56 games since October 2018, the Men in Blue’s captain has featured in 48 of them.
Another major talking point could be regarding Rishabh Pant given his failure to put on an impressive performance in recent times. Kerala batsman Sanju Samson’s name could be taken into consideration in his place for the scintillating form in domestic cricket that he has shown in the season so far. However, the selectors had also not ruled out the opportunity of having them both in the team.
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“There is no harm if both Rishabh and Sanju are there in the team. They have played together in IPL also. Rishabh has had limited success in shorter formats but he is a long-term investment and we need to persist with him,” a BCCI source close to the selection committee was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times.
At the same time, Sanju is a player with game-changing abilities. Keeping World T20 in mind, the team management needs to check other options also as everyone knows that it’s time to look beyond Mahendra Singh Dhoni,” the source further added.
Mumbai all-rounder Shivam Dube could also get some attention from the selectors as reports suggest he is now being looked above Vijay Shankar as the second choice all-rounder. Thus, with Hardik Pandya sidelined due to injury he could be the replacement for him in the T20I squad for the Bangladesh series.
Everyone agrees that Shivam’s bowling is still not international standard and nowhere near the kind of pace and variety Hardik possesses. But he is a left-hander, which is an advantage and can hit big sixes. Even Kohli has seen him a bit in IPL while playing for RCB,” the source privy to the developments in selection committee said.
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