T20I cricket is one of the most entertaining formats of the game. At the same time, it is an unpredictable format as well because the players in the XI could lose their place just after a few bad performances. In 2023, India have played only two T20I series. The first was against Sri Lanka, followed by one against the New Zealand cricket team on home soil.
The Men in Blue will return to the T20I arena next month against the West Indies cricket team, and here is the squad for that tour:
Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Surya Kumar Yadav (VC), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (C), Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.
The squad looks strong on paper, but some players who impressed in recent matches have surprisingly been ignored. Here’s a list of the three such players.
1. Shivam Mavi made his T20I debut in 2023
The case of Shivam Mavi is very, very curious. The right-arm pace bowler did not have a great IPL season with Kolkata Knight Riders in 2022. Still, BCCI gave him his debut in the T20I series against Sri Lanka, and he impressed straightaway. Mavi played a key role in India’s series win.
Soon after, Mavi did not get a single match for the Gujarat Titans in IPL 2023. Mavi has now been dropped from the Indian squad for the West Indies series as well.
2. Deepak Hooda
It is a little tough to understand how Deepak Hooda did not make it to the Indian team despite producing match-winning performances in his last few T20Is. Hooda scored a match-winning 23-ball 41* against Sri Lanka and took a four-wicket haul against New Zealand not long ago. Still, he has been left out.
3. Rahul Tripathi
Rahul Tripathi made his debut earlier this year as well. He played five matches, where he batted at a strike rate of more than 140 and played a couple of impactful knocks as well for the Indian cricket team. However, since he had an ordinary IPL season with SRH, Tripathi has missed out for the WI tour.
