Due to the COVID pandemic, teams also pick some reserves in the squad for big events. The big event after the pandemic was the 2021 T20 World Cup. A few players were named as standby cricketers for that tournament. Interestingly, a year later, the status of these players remains the same. On that note, in this article, we take a look at three players who were on standby in the 2021 T20 WC and are also standby players for the 2022 T20 WC.
1) Shreyas Iyer (India)
Shreyas Iyer was coming back from an injury in 2021 and after not getting the desired game time, he was announced as one of the reserve cricketers. Since then, the Mumbai batter has been a consistent part of the setup. However, even for the 2022 T20 World Cup, Iyer is given the same role. This time around, Deepak Hooda has overtaken him for a spot in the final squad. There has also been criticism that Sanju Samson should have been preferred ahead of Iyer in the standby list.
2) Deepak Chahar (India)
Deepak Chahar has been named on the standby list mainly because his bowling attributes are similar to that of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Since Bhuvi is part of the main squad, it is not useful to have two similar players in the 15-member team. Therefore, in both the World Cup squads, Chahar was placed on the standby list. That said, after the 2022 T20 WC, Chahar could get consistent chances in the XI, ahead of Bhuvi.
3) Andile Phehlukwayo (South Africa)
South Africa’s Andile Phehlukwayo is one of the players who were on standby in 2021 T20 WC and is also a standby player for the 2022 T20 WC. The Proteas have a strong pace attack. Even the bowling all-rounders such as Wayne Parnell and Marco Jansen are brilliant with the ball. However, Phehlukwayo does not offer insurance in both department. That said, he becomes necessary when there is an injury because he adds balance to the XI. Therefore, he is on this list.
