India’s revamped approach in the shortest format is showing good signs in the early stages as they managed to beat West Indies 4-1 in the recently concluded T20I series. While the Men in Blue are preparing for their next assignment against Zimbabwe, BCCI has already announced India’s squad for the 2022 Asia Cup.
The multi-nation event will serve as a vital chunk of the preparations for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia later this year. As of now, the Rohit Sharma-led side is experimenting at regular intervals to get the right combination for the T20 World Cup. However, some big names are yet to feature in T20I cricket this year.
In this listicle, we will look at three Indian star cricketers who are yet to play a T20I match in the year 2022:
1) KL Rahul
It would not be a stretch to say that KL Rahul has been one of the most consistent T20 batters in recent years. He played his last T20I game against New Zealand in November last year. He was also named in the T20I series against West Indies but ruled out after he was tested Covid positive.
In IPL 2022, the right-handed batter smashed 616 runs at an astonishing average of 51.33 and a strike-rate of 135.38. He will be back in action in the Asia Cup 2022 and will also serve as the vice-captain of the team.
2) Mohammed Shami
When in rhyme, it gets hard for the batters to get away from Mohammed Shami. He was part of the team in the T20 World Cup 2021, but things have completely changed since then. He is yet to play a T20I match for India since he played against Namibia in the last edition of the T20 World Cup.
The 31-year-old cricketer also missed the squad for the Asia Cup 2022. It provides that the selectors have moved on, and he is no longer in the setup of the shortest format.
3) Shikhar Dhawan
Once upon a time, Shikhar Dhawan used to be a constant name on the team sheet in white-ball cricket. However, in the last 12 months, he has been completely ignored for the T20Is. He is no longer in the scheme of things, even as a backup. The emergence of the likes of Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad has affected the southpaw’s chances.
The veteran batter played his last T20I game for India in July 2021 against Sri Lanka. Even though in IPL 2022, he amassed 460 runs in 14 games at a decent average of 38.33, his strike-rate was just 122.67. It didn’t help him either in earning a recall to the national team.
